Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja!
by KingSora3
Summary: On the night of the Scroll of Sealing, something unexpected happened to one Naruto Uzumaki after the truth was revealed to him. Now, after meeting three mysterious hedgehogs from another world and learning more truths about himself, the boy will rise up and will be known around the world as the Ultimate Ninja! [Remake of Naruto: The Ultimate Ninja] [Humanized Sonic Characters]
1. Ultimate 1

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

**Genre:** Action-Adventure, Comedy, Harem, Fantasy, Romance

* * *

It was raining.

When it rains, it can mean many things; birth, rebirth, death and destruction.

This rain however means only one thing: Destruction.

Or better yet, the final battle that's currently taking place.

In a deserted area, two young men are seen on opposite sides of each other as they slowly stood up from the ground. The area around them had multiple craters and fissures surrounding them, along with some fire that was slowly dying due to the rain.

Both young men's clothes have been nearly burned or ripped off. They were covered in blood, from the cuts and bruises they sustained from each other.

One of the young men has spiky red streaked blond hair and whiskers on his cheeks. He glares up at his opponent, spitting out some blood that was in his mouth. He grins weakly and tiredly.

"Damn." The young man spoke up. "This fight is even longer than the one I had with Sasuke a little while ago. Though we had used up all of our chakra at that point and lost our arms as result."

"Is that so?" His opponent breathed out, wiping the blood from his lips. He has long shaggy dark red spiky hair with black streaks in them. He too has whisker marks on his face and he had cold blue eyes. "Well then, guess it's time we finally ended this battle." A dark grin forms on his face. "And you'll lose more than just an _arm_ this time, Naruto."

The same grin forms on Naruto's face along with a matching glare present. "Is that so? Well then, bring it on!" He and his opponent gave out yells as energy erupted from their bodies.

The two then charged at each other, the yellow aura for Naruto and the black aura for his opponent, clashing against one another.

If one were to see so far in the distance then they could see two streaks of light clashing into each other as the area around them shook due to such intensity of the clash.

As they continued to clash, Naruto begins to see his life flash before his eyes while hearing his friends call out to him.

"_You can do it Naruto!"_

"_Give it all you've got!"_

"_Get back home safe!"_

"_Don't die Naruto!"_

"_Hurry up back man!"_

"_We know you can win!"_

"_I believe in you!"_

After this last clash, they fell to the ground on either side of a large crater.

Just like before with his battle with Sasuke, Naruto could feel he was almost out of chakra and he could tell that his opponent was in the same boat. He can also tell that they also got the same amount of chaos energy.

Looks like if he wants this battle to end once and for all, he's gonna have to give it all he's got, even if it kills him. Or even...if he disappears entirely.

Naruto and his Double weakly got up, though it did take some difficulty doing so. Luckily they were able to stand on their feet, though they were kind of wobbly. They took deep breaths as they glared at one another.

Naruto's eyes, full of brightness and warmth, stared into his Double's eyes, full of coldness.

Naruto soon starts to charge up a Rasengan as his opponent did the same thing. At the same, Naruto's Inhibitor Rings fell off his wrists and he was covered in yellow-redish chaos energy while his Double was covered in purple-blackish chaos energy as well.

Naruto looks down at the star charm in his pocket, recalling what _she_ said to him before he left, bringing a soft smile to his face as he closed his eyes in remembrance.

"_Don't forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you. So please...come back to us...to me."_

"_I promise. I will come back to you, to all of you!"_ Naruto opens his eyes and smirks confidently. "LET'S FINISH THIS!"

The two gave a giant leap as they charged at each other once more. As they did, they transformed into their Super forms one last time, one of positive and one of negative.

"NARUTOOOOOOO!"

"NAZOOOOOO!"

In that last moment, just as their Rasengan was gonna clash, Naruto also recalled the last three words she said to him before he left.

"_I love you."_

Both Rasengans clashed with each other bringing fourth a powerful blast of force that wiped out everything around them. As the clash continued, the two started to push one another back while pouring out more and more chaos power into their jutsu.

The two gave out battle roars as a bright light soon erupted from the clashing Rasengan.

"_I love you too." _Was Naruto's last thoughts as he and Nazo vanished into the light.

* * *

_Hold up! Hold up! Ok, so, I'm guessing you guys are wondering, "What the heck?" and "What's going on?", am I right? _

_Of course I am. And I'm also guessing you want to know what happened, right? _

_Well, I'll tell ya, but it's a long story. So try to keep up, since I tend to move...__**very**_ _quickly. I guess I should start from the beginning, after all this __**is**_ _my story. _

* * *

**Ultimate 1: Introducing Naruto Uzumaki! The World's Ultimate Ninja! **

**Chapter Cover: **In a white empty space stood Naruto Uzumaki. He has a large scroll on his back and wore a happy grin on his face as he twirls a Gold Ring on his finger. Behind him stood Sonic, Shadow and Silver with their backs turned, but they looked at Naruto over their shoulders with smirks on their faces.

* * *

…

…

...

This is the story about a very special boy who lives in Konoha, also known as the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

13 years ago, a giant Nine-Tailed Fox appeared out of nowhere and it began to attack the village. It made lots of chaos and killed many innocent people along with the Shinobi of the Village. However, one man was able to stand up to the Beast and managed to fight it. But he sacrificed himself and sealed a new born baby. This man was known as Minato Namikaze, the Hidden Leaf's Yellow Flash, and the Fourth Hokage.

As for the newborn baby in which the Nine-Tails is sealed in…his name is Naruto Uzumaki and he is the son Minato Namikaze and the Red-Hot Blooded Habanero Kushina Uzumaki. Naruto was supposed to be treated as a hero who helped defeat the demon fox, but the villagers accused him of being the reincarnation of demon who attacked their village and killed their family and friends.

While he was growing up many of the villagers and shinobi would always ignore him and look at him with anger, contempt or fear. Whenever he walked around the village, the citizens would always ignore and glare at him behind his back and whisper something.

Naruto never had any friends because the parents told their children to stay away from him. He only had one person who treats him nicely and always treats him to his favorite food which is ramen, and that is the Third Hokage himself who he would always call 'Old Man'. There was also the Ichiraku's, who owns the Ramen Restaurant, he always goes to as he met them on a rainy day.

However, he did become friends with someone. Someone who became very precious and important to him. But...she vanished. He looked all over the village for her and tried to leave but nobody didn't care, except for the Old Man. He grew to hate them and would sometimes attack them.

It was sometime after Naruto started the Academy, he met this girl and became best friends with her. However two days after his birthday, she vanished right in front him. After that, Naruto just became violent and would attack anybody who said anything bad about her or try to take the gift he got from her on his birthday.

But after a talk with the Old Man, Naruto returned to his normal prank loving knuckleheaded self. But some of the villagers along with the shinobi were still fearful of him, especially some of the Academy students, because of his behavior. So Naruto has been working hard to get everyone to acknowledge him.

Speaking of the Academy, this year would be the last time where those who were at the Academy would become ninjas. All Naruto had to do was to pass a Genin Exam, which would be his one step closer to being a ninja, and then being the Hokage so that the villagers would acknowledge him and not treat him like trash. And to search for his missing best friend.

But sadly that failed when he couldn't do a simple Clone Jutsu and failed.

Just when his hopes of reaching his dream would die down his other sensei Mizuki told him that there was another way for him to pass. All Naruto had to do in order to pass was to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and go far away from the village and go to a house that was there.

We currently see the blond hair, six whiskered cheek, orange jumpsuit wearing, soon to be Hokage, panting in exhaustion from trying to master one the Jutsu that was in the Scroll, which was strapped to his back.

"NARUTO!" The voice of Iruka Umino shouted staring down at him.

"Oh! Hehe…hey Iruka-sensei! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.

"What am I doing here? What are YOU doing stealing the Scroll!?" Iruka asked, waiting for an answer for him.

"Hehe! Guess you caught me huh? And I only had time to master one jutsu…" Naruto said sheepishly, earning a surprise look from his teacher/big brother.

Iruka looked surprised for a moment before he saw how dirty Naruto's clothes is. _"He's been practicing…"_

"Listen Iruka-sensei, I'm gonna show you this amazing new technique and your gonna let me graduate and everything is going to be okay! That's the way it goes right?" Naruto asked happily, causing Iruka to get a confused expression.

"Huh? Where'd you get that idea from?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed as he turns around, showing the scroll. "He told me where to find the scroll and this place…" He trailed off, seeing the shocked expression on his teacher's face.

"Mizuki…?" Iruka asked. He couldn't understand it. Why would Mizuki-

The Chūnin Instructor heard something and turned his head, seeing kunais heading towards them. "LOOK OUT!" He shouted as he pushed Naruto out of the way and got hit by the kunais.

"I see you found our little hideaway."

Naruto and Iruka turned to the voice and saw a silver haired Chunin with two giant shurikens on his back and an evil grin on his face standing on a tree branch.

"So that's the way it is huh? I should've known you'd be behind this Mizuki." Iruka said, ignoring the pain he was in from the kunais.

"Huh? Huh?!" Naruto asked, looking back and forth between his teachers in confusion.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll!" Mizuki told him.

"Wait, what's going on?!" Naruto asked. What just happened?! Why did Mizuki-sensei attack Iruka-sensei?

"Naruto! Don't let Mizuki get the scroll!" Iruka told him also. "It contains Forbidden Jutsu that can put this Village in grave danger! Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself to gain power!"

"What!?" A shocked Naruto asked as he looked to Mizuki. This was all a trick?

"Naruto…" Mizuki spoke, grinning at him. "Iruka is just trying to scare you so that you won't have the scroll." He saw the confused look on his face and watch him turn to Iruka.

"Stop lying!" Iruka said taking out the last kunai out of his shoulder. "Don't let him get to you Naruto!"

Mizuki chuckled evilly. "Oh I'll tell you who's really lying."

"NO MIZUKI!"

"They've been lying to you your whole life Naruto. Since the decree that was made twelve years ago."

"Decree?" Naruto asked.

"Everyone knows about this except for you."

"What is this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?" Naruto asked, wanting to know.

"DON'T TELL HIM IT'S FORBIDDEN!" Iruka shouted.

"The decree is that no one can tell you that the Nine-Tail Fox is inside you."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as a gasp escaped his lips.

"The Fox Spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body. You are the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Mizuki exclaimed.

"STOP IT!" Iruka roared.

Naruto just stood there in complete shock and as realization hit him. The whisperings, the stares, everyone ignoring him...all that because he...he had the Nine-Tails sealed inside him. e didn't even noticed that Mizuki took out one of his shuriken while laughing.

"It's time for you to die Naruto!" He said as he launched his shuriken at Naruto, watching him still standing there.

"No way...the Nine Tails is inside me...?" He asked himself as time seems to have stopped in an instant.

* * *

**?**

Naruto opened his eyes and saw that he was inside a white space. He blinked and looked around before his eyes widened comically. "EEEEHHH!? W-WHAT IS THIS?! WHERE AM I!?" He starts to run around in circles, waving his arms up and down frantically.

"Hey!" A male voice called out.

"HOW DID I GET HERE!? WHY AM I HERE!?" Naruto asked as he frantically looked around trying to find an exit of some sort.

"Um, excuse me?" Another male voice spoke up as well, but was ignored as Naruto continued to scream.

"AM I DEAD OR SOMETHING!?"

"He's ignoring us." A third voice sighed in annoyance.

"I think he's too busy freaking out."

"Hey! Naruto Uzumaki! Chill out!"

Naruto instantly stopped freaking out and looked around the white space, a comical freaked out expression on his face. "Huh!? Who said that!?"

"Up here!"

Naruto looked up and saw three glowing balls of light coming towards him. One was cobalt blue, the second was crimson red, and the third one was pure white, a cyan aura surrounding it.

Naruto blinks and rubs his eyes, looking at the three floating orbs. "What the heck? Are you guys talking?"

"Yeah. Though it was kind of hard with you and the screaming." The White Ball said.

Naruto laughed sheepishly at that as he scratched his head. "Sorry sorry." He blinks at them and points at them angrily. "Hey! I have every write to be freaked out! I don't even know where the heck I am, believe it! I don't even know who or what you floating orb things are!"

"Kid's got a point." The Blue Ball chuckled.

"Whatever." The Crimson Ball said in annoyance. "He was acting like an idiot running around in circles like that."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT!?" Naruto demanded as he came up to the Crimson Ball, a red vein on his head.

"You obviously." The Crimson Ball said as Naruto growled. This thing was starting to sound like Sasuke!

"That does it! I'm gonna kick your butt!" Naruto tried to punch it, but Red moved away and knocked him down by hitting his head. The Uzumaki blinks and looked up at Red.

"That all you got?"

Naruto growled, comical veins appearing on his head. He stood up, getting ready to charge at Red again.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" White exclaimed as he and Blue backed Crimson and Naruto away from each other. "We're not here for a fight! We came here to finally talk to ya Naruto."

"Heh? How do you guys know my name? And who are you?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Hold on a sec, dude. We need a change of scenery." Blue said, much to Naruto's confusion.

The Whisker Blonde heard something and looked down to see the white space change into a green grassy field. He looks up and saw the sky had appeared and the sun was shining brightly on him.

"Whoa! What's this!?" Naruto asked as he looked around.

"This is Green Hill. It's from our world." Blue spoke up from behind him.

"Huh?" Naruto turns around to face the three balls of light but what he saw shocked him comically as a dumbfounded confused expression appeared on his face. What he saw wasn't spirits but instead was three hedgehogs.

"Hey!" The Blue one waves at him.

"EHHHHH!?" Naruto screamed as he examined them.

The hedgehog who spoke first is blue. He has emerald jade eyes, red sneakers with a white strape on them, and each sporting a golden buckle. He also had white gloves, his muzzle and arms were peach colored.

The second one was black. He had red streaks on his spiky quill, red eyes, and white fur on his chest. He had on white gloves with rings around him. And his sneakers where white, black, red and yellow.

The third and last one was more silver colored. He has white fur on his chest surrounding his neck with yellow eyes and tan skin on his muzzle. He wears white gloves with cyan circles on them with lines sticking out of the bottom leading to his golden bracelets accented in cyan. The tops of his boots are of a similar fashion with a red gem set in gold. The rest of his boots are navy blue, white and cyan. He has two large spines at the back of his head, while at the front of his forehead there are five distinct spines flared up and back, the two final ones covering up most of his ears.

"HOLY CRAP! TALKING HEDGEHOGS?!" Naruto yelled in disbelief, backing away from them, which made the blue hedgehog chuckle sheepishly.

"...Should've seen that one coming." The silver one deadpanned.

"Moron." The black one muttered as he shook his head, though Naruto heard him.

"Okay! Who the heck are you guys!?" Naruto demanded as he stepped back. "And how are you talking!?"

"My name's Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" The blue hedgehog introduced himself grinning and pointing at himself with a thumbs up.

"I'm Shadow the Hedgehog." The black hedgehog introduced himself crossing his arms.

"And my name is Silver the Hedgehog." The silver hedgehog introduced himself waving.

"Sonic, Shadow, and Silver?" Naruto looked at the hedgehogs as he called out their names. He then shook his head, holding it. "Okay I'm dreaming. This has to be a dream."

"Dude, if this was a dream, _your_ dream specifically, then there would be a million bowls of ramen everywhere." Sonic deadpanned.

Naruto giggled as drool escaped his lips. "Oh yeah, a million bowls of ramen!" He slapped himself and wiped the drool away. "Alright, if this isn't a dream then how did I get here?"

"We're inside your mind genius." Shadow replied in an annoyed tone.

"My mind!? I have three hedgehogs inside my head!?" Naruto asked before Shadow punched him upside the head. "OW!"

"Will you shut up and focus?" The Black Hedgehog asked.

"Okay okay sheesh!" Naruto exclaimed rubbing his head. "So if we're inside my mind then where did you come from?"

The Hedgehogs looked at each other and back at Naruto.

"The funny thing is, we don't know." Silver said.

"Huh?" Naruto tilt his head to the side.

"What he means is that we don't remember." Sonic said, scratching his head in confusion. "It's faint but I somehow remember that we were fighting something."

"After that, everything became...blank." Shadow said, shaking his head.

"Then we found ourselves here with a giant Nine-Tailed Fox behind a cage." Silver finished as Naruto's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"That guy's got some serious attitude problems." Sonic said, putting his arms behind his head. "Tried to have a nice conversation with him and he gets all angry. Saying how he's the oh so 'Mighty Nine Tails Fox' and that he's going to rip us to pieces. Guy needs to take a chill pill."

"If that paper wasn't on the cage, I'd teach that overgrown fox a lesson on who's the strongest there is." Shadow said.

"...so it's really true." Naruto spoke up, looking down sadly, getting the hedgehogs attention. "It's really sealed inside of me." He blinks and looks around fearfully. "Wait a second where is it!?"

"Yeah..." Sonic trailed off. "Let's just say we sent you to another part of your mind, so that way we can have a friendly chat with ya."

"Oh." Naruto sighed in relief.

"And we seriously gotta be honest with you Naruto." Silver spoke up. "We've been inside of you the second you were born."

"Huh?!" Naruto had a dumbfounded expression. "You guys were inside of me after I was born!?"

"Yup! Right before the Nine-Tails was sealed inside you!" Sonic exclaimed.

"In other words, we saw what happened when that Masked Man came and attacked your parents." Shadow added and that made Naruto's eyes widen at the mention of his parents.

"You saw my Mom and Dad!?" The Pre-Teen asked as he grabbed Shadow's shoulders and began to shake him. "What happened to them!? Please tell me! I want to know!"

A vein appeared above Shadow's head as he flipped Naruto over his shoulder.

"OW!"

"If you really want to know then shut up and listen." Shadow said, looking down at Naruto with half-lidded eyes.

"_This guy is too much like Sasuke!"_ Naruto thought.

"Okay, so this Masked Man found out that your mom, Kushina Uzumaki, was the second host of the Nine-Tails." Silver started as Naruto sat up with widened eyes. "Just moments after you were born, he popped out of nowhere and killed the Third Hokage's wife and another woman. After that he held you hostage and placed paper bombs at you."

"Your dad managed to catch you and teleported to another location where you'll be safe." Shadow continued. "But that was what the man wanted. He wanted your father out of the way so that he can kidnap your mother and and get the Nine-Tails out of her." He looked down. "And your father was too late to stop him. But he did save your mother and brought her to you, so that she can keep you safe."

"After the fox was unleashed, the Masked Creep did something to him and sent him to attack the Leaf Village." Sonic finished. "Your dad and the Creep fought each other and he up and disappeared, leaving the fox to destroy the village as many people, your father included, fought him."

"So what happened next? Did the Fourth Hokage came and fought also!?" Naruto asked. The Hedgehogs looked at each other then back to him.

"Um about that..." Sonic said, scratching his head, a conflicting expression on his face. "See the thing is...after leading the Nine-Tails further away from the village, your mom volunteered to have it resealed inside her but um...the Fourth Hokage denied it and decided to have it seal in you."

"But...But I don't understand why didn't my dad say anything to stop him!?" Naruto demanded a bit angry that his father didn't stop the Fourth Hokage to seal the Nine Tails inside him.

"Because he is your father Naruto." Silver answered.

Naruto gasped as his eyes widened in complete and utter shock and disbelief.

"W...what...?"

"The Fourth Hokage...is your dad." Sonic said softly.

Naruto didn't say anything as his eyes widened further from the news. His father...is the Fourth Hokage? The same man he looked up to as the greatest hero in the village was his father all along. Various emotions ran through his eyes as he looked down, hair shadowing his eyes.

"With the Nine-Tails chakra being too immense to seal in an infant, your father made it so that he can cut the Beast's chakra in half, sealing the Yin half in himself." Shadow continued. "The Nine-Tails realized what was going to happened was about to kill you. But your parents used themselves as shields and protected you from it. They risked their lives to protect you...their only child."

Naruto never said anything. He still had his head down and was trembling.

"Kid...?" Sonic asked.

"Why...why...why..." Naruto repeated before tears came out his eyes. "WHY DID HE SEAL THE NINE-TAILS FOX INSIDE HIS OWN SON! DOES HE HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH BECAUSE OF THAT!? DID HE EVEN ALREADY KNOW THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO ME!?"

"Naruto..." Sonic and his fellow hedgehogs looked at each other sadly.

"Listen Naruto. Your father didn't know that would happen to you." Silver said. "Before he died, your father requested the Third Hokage to tell everyone to see you as a hero!"

Naruto looked at Silver in confusion.

"He's right!" Sonic agreed. "That was your dad's final wish to everyone in the Leaf Village! He truly believed that they will see you as a hero and some of them did! As for the others...well not so much, but that's only because the Nine-Tails kill all of their loved ones and more or less resent you for it. And as for the why he did it..."

"The reason why he did it was because he believed in you." Shadow stated.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked wiping the tears away.

"Out of all the infants in the Leaf, why do you think he chose you, his own son, to seal the Nine-Tails?" Seeing Naruto's confused expression made Shadow continue. "It's because he believed in you. He believe that you alone would someday learn how to control the Nine-Tails' power, making it your own, and change the Shinobi World for the better."

"He...he did...?" Naruto asked in a whisper.

"Believe it!" Silver smiles, using Naruto's catchphrase, though he did frown at what he said next. "You wouldn't believe how much your parents loved you and if it wasn't for that Masked Man, then you'd still have them."

"But if that's true then why didn't the Old Man tell me?" Naruto asked.

"Well actually he did tell you, remember?" Sonic asked. "You asked him what were your parents like and he said that they were incredible Ninjas! And he was right!"

Naruto's eyes widen before he rubbed his sheepishly.

"Also, if he were to tell you that you was the son of a famous Hokage, you would probably shout it out for the entire village to hear like an idiot." Shadow said, making Naruto glare at him. "Look, he didn't tell you who they really were because your dad had lots of enemies and if they found out about you then you'd be in serious danger. Your father's enemies would take their revenge out on you by killing you. That's also why he didn't tell the village about the Fourth being your father, though the people who look at you as hero already figured it out."

Naruto gulped nervously at that as blue lines covered his face. "Oh...t-that makes sense. The me getting killed part at least."

"Besides...even though you never made a friend before because of the grown-ups, you kind of did. Remember?" Silver asked with a smile.

"Yeah...her..." Naruto said as memories of him meeting a girl flashed through his mind, making him smile. "My best friend." He smiled sadly at the memories. She and him were quite similar to each other that it was no wonder the two bonded the day they met.

All the fun things they've done together, the pranks they (him actually) pulled together, he wished he would go back to those days before she vanished. He really missed seeing her face and often wondered what she was doing right now. When he finds her, he was going to introduce her to Iruka...sensei...

Naruto then blinked as he realized something. "OH CRAP! I FORGOT ABOUT IRUKA-SENSEI! I GOTTA SAVE HIM FROM MIZUKI!"

"Calm down." Shadow said. "Your teacher is safe. When you entered your mind, we managed to stop time all around you."

"Still I have to help him!" Naruto exclaimed. "Mizuki tricked me to stealing something important and I want to kick his sorry ass!"

"Okay!" Sonic said happily as a grin formed on his face.

"Um...wait a second..." Naruto said. "What about you guys? Will I be able to see you in the real world or something?"

"Dude, we've been with you since you were a newborn." Sonic deadpanned as Naruto looked sheepish. The Blue Hedgehog then looks down sadoy. "Besides, this is the last time you'll see us."

"Huh?" Naruto asked. What was Sonic talking about?

"Our time is coming to an end." Shadow said. "We'll be leaving soon."

"W...What?" Naruto asked wide eyed. "What do you mean 'leaving'? Y-You guys just can go yet! You just said you've been with me since I was born! Now that I met you, you're just going to leave?!"

He just couldn't understand! What was the problem?! Why did they have to go already?

"I'm sorry Naruto." Silver shook his head sadly. "We've been holding on for a long time just to finally meet you."

"And now that we did, it's time to say goodbye." Shadow finished.

"But…!" Naruto was about to yell but then looks down, tears gathering in his eyes. "That's not fair…" He didn't want to say goodbye to them. If anything he hoped that they would stay with him, that way he would be able to get the chance to know them better.

Because honestly, Naruto see the Hedgehogs as older brothers he wished he had, even though they just recently met. But knowing that they've been inside of him since he was born, that told him they were always looking out for him. He also wanted to learn more about their world and where they came from.

Naruto felt a pat on his leg and looks down, seeing Sonic smiling up at him. "Cheer up Naruto. Before we hit the road, we have something to give you." The Blue Blur told him. "Think of it as...a late birthday present."

"A...late birthday present?" Naruto asked, a surprised look on his face. He looks at Shadow and Silver, seeing them nod their heads at him. They have a present for him? He didn't expect that. "What is it?"

"Close your eyes." Sonic ordered.

Naruto blinks from that but did so anyway. Once he did, Sonic, Shadow and Silver turned into their former forms and circled around Naruto as seven colored emeralds appeared around them.

_"You may not see us again kid."_ Shadow said. "_But we'll never forget about you."_

"_Deep down, we'll still always be with you."_ Silver continued. "_Through the good and bad times, even when things seem hopeless."_

_"You have a strong will that can't be broken, no matter what situation your in. You stay true to your word and you never give up no matter how hard things are."_

Sonic said happily.

"_That's what makes you special and what makes you Naruto Uzumaki." _Shadow said.

"_The next Hokage of the Leaf Village." _Silver continued.

"_And one awesome ninja."_ Sonic finished.

The three balls of light stopped spinning. They combined into one and floated in front of Naruto's chest just as the emeralds began to glow.

"G-Guys…" Naruto said in a soft whispered tone as tears starts to fall from his closed eyes. He felt touched by their words and he could tell that they meant every word of it. No one...no one has ever said such honest things to him about himself. The only person he knows who did say such things...was her.

_"We leave this gift...our legacy..."_ The three said in sync as they began to enter Naruto's chest. _"To you."_

* * *

**Real World**

Time seems to have returned to normal as the large shuriken came flying at Naruto.

"NARUTO GET DOWN!" Iruka shouted. When Naruto didn't move, he was about to jump in and take the hit.

However...

**CLANG!**

Both Chūnin eyes widened in shock as a green energy barrier appeared in front of Naruto, deflecting the shuriken away and embedded itself into a tree. They looked at the weapon before turning to Naruto, seeing his eyes were being shadowed.

Their pupils shrank when they saw blue, crimson and cyan aura appear around his whole body as he reared his head back and let out a scream.

**Music: His World (E3 Version) [Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)]**

"WAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

They formed into a pillar around Naruto as they erupted into the sky causing the Chūnin to cover their eyes from it.

"What the hell is this!?" Mizuki asked, trying to open his eyes.

"I...Is the fox being released?" Iruka asked in a scared tone. _"No...I don't sense any demonic chakra...what's happening to him?"_

As Naruto continued to scream and the Chūnin covered their eyes they didn't see that seven glowing Emeralds had appeared and were spinning around the pillar. The Emeralds soon flew off and disappeared.

* * *

"What in the world?"

Inside his office, Hiruzen Sarutobi, The Third Hokage, is watching the events take forward from his crystal ball. He cursed Mizuki for telling Naruto his burden and was starting to get worried for his surrogate grandson.

"Naruto...what's happening to you?"

* * *

The pillar faded away and both Chūnin uncovered their eyes. They looked towards where Naruto was standing and gasped in shock at what they saw.

There before them is an all new, all different Naruto Uzumaki.

Seeing how Naruto was the shortest one in class, he definitely gotten taller, going past Sasuke's height a little bit. His spiky hair got longer, gaining six short spiky quills, similar to a hedgehog, and it had red streaks in them. His face has lost it's baby fat and became angular while his features were more sharper. He wore a black sleeveless shirt, showing off his now muscular build arms, a white vest, with green trims and fur on the collar, a white cloth and blue pants.

He wore some odd shoes. The shoes themselves had a smooth red surface, with a white line going through it, while the heel region was black. Around the rim of the soles, the shoes have cyan strips of metal on the rear and front of the bottom, broken below the in-steps. He had gold rings on his wrist that has black cuffs with red tongues, and he wore white gloves. The palms of his gloves have cyan circles, which were glowing.

"N-Naruto...?" Iruka asked in complete shock by the boys transformation.

"Mizuki." Naruto spoke in a deeper voice causing both Chūnin eyes to widened in shock. "You're going to pay for tricking me and for what you did to Iruka." He held his right palm to Mizuki. "I'm gonna take your ass down."

"Is that so!?" Mizuki yelled. "THEN COME AT ME! SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO NINE-TAILED FOX!"

The cyan on Naruto's palm started to glow and Mizuki was covered in cyan light. Iruka's eyes widened in shock when he saw Mizuki floating and he was coming to Naruto by force.

"How is he doing this?" He asked himself.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Mizuki demanded struggling to get out of this. "I CAN'T MOVE!"

Naruto did a hand sign while still holding Mizuki. **"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Iruka's eyes widened when he saw over a hundred Naruto's appear in a puff of smoke. _"Incredible..." _He smiled proudly. _"He's mastered an extreme Jutsu..."_

"Y-YOU!" Mizuki exclaimed with a hint of fear in his voice. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

Naruto stared at Mizuki before he answered. "I am Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." A dark grin appeared on his face. "Your _worst_ nightmare. Get him!" He ordered the clones as they charged at Mizuki.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

**Pow! Whack! Smash!**

After a couple minutes of the beat down, the clones have disappeared and Naruto was staring down at the beat up look on Mizuki's face. He looks up to see that the sun is rising. He turns to Iruka and smiled.

**Music: The Last Scene [Sonic Adventure 2]**

"Are you okay, Iruka?"

"Yes. I'm fine." Iruka nodded but then gained a curious expression. "But Naruto...what happened to you?"

Naruto looks over at himself and smiled happily. "Let's just say, this is a late present from some awesome guys I met." He placed a hand on his heart. "And they will always be with me."

Iruka looked confused at first but then he showed a smile. Whoever or whatever it was that caused him to change into this, he couldn't help but feel happy. It's shown that they obviously care about Naruto, if him saying it's a present was any indication.

"Hey Naruto. I wanna give you something. Close your eyes."

Naruto did so and was waiting for something to happen.

"Okay, you can open them now."

He opened them and noticed that Iruka wasn't wearing his forehead protector. His eyes widened in realization. "You mean...I...?"

"Yup! You just graduated from the exam! Congratulations Naruto!" Iruka said proudly as Naruto hugged him.

"Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Thanks Iruka-sensei! Thanks a lot!"

"Ouch! Be careful! I'm still hurt you know!" Iruka exclaimed, though inwardly he was smiling. No matter how much he changed on the outside, on the inside he's still the same old idiot Naruto.

"Sorry sorry! Just a little bit excited!" Naruto chuckled. He looks up at the sky with a grin.

Soon, he'll be close to reach his dream. Now that he's a ninja, that means he'll be leaving the village sometime soon and go on some adventures! That also means...he'll be able to finally begin search for her!

Just thinking about it makes him excited.

_"Don't worry." _Her smiling face appears in his head. "_I'll find you soon...I promise."_ The spirits of Sonic, Shadow and Silver appeared behind him looking up as well. Naruto looks at them and they looked back, giving him thumbs up before they disappeared. He looks back up and raised his fist at the rising sun.

"All right! Let's do it to it!"

* * *

**Opening 1: Sonic Drive [English Version]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Various pictures of a grinning Naruto appears doing poses based on Sonic the Hedgehog: One is him doing the pose from Sonic Adventure cover. Another is him doing the Sonic Adventure 2 cover pose. The third is him doing the Sonic Heroes pose. The fourth is him doing one of many poses from Sonic Channel. The last is him doing the Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) pose.

The scene changed to show a Gold Ring falling and hitting the grassy ground.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appear: One is Sasuke striking a pose, with a serious look on his face. The second is Sakura smiling at the readers. The third is Kakashi standing, holding his book and looking at the readers. The fourth is Iruka with his hands on his hips, smiling at the viewers. The last picture is Hiruzen, smirking slightly.

The scene change to show a yellow blur running out of the village.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The yellow blur reveals itself to be Naruto running through a forest before he jumps off a cliff with a smile on his face as the title appears:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja!**

***Instruments***

The Hidden Leaf Village is shown in all its glory. Naruto is standing on top of his father's head at the Hokage Mountain, looking down at it with a grin on his face. He wipes his thumb across his nose.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today  
The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is walking around with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face. He grins as he runs ahead, jumping from building to building before he runs on one and flips off of it.

**If I don't keep running  
There's no other meaning**

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto lands on the roof, fixing his Forehead Protector. He looks ahead, seeing Sasuke and Sakura smile at him. They looked back and saw Kakashi standing on cable from a utility pole. He knees down and waves at his team.

Naruto grins and gave his sensei a thumbs up, making Kakashi blink before he smiled.

**Bio-rhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

Naruto is on a branch, leaning his back on the tree. He reaches into his pocket and took out a purple star charm, looking at it with a sad frown.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines  
The wind envelops me**

A young girl, her upper face shadowed over, appears and she is smiling.

Naruto blinks and walks ahead, while putting his star charm back in his pocket. He jumps off the tree branch and was instantly covered in a blue wind as he starts to fly across the sky.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack  
Surpass everything, altogether  
I won't let anyone, or anything get ahead of me**

Squad 7 is fighting off a bunch of Bandits. Naruto is using his Spin Dash as he got through a bunch of larger bandits, blowing them all away. Sasuke trips one of them and does kicks some of them across the face. Sakura punched one and then grabs his arm. And Kakashi blocks a sword attack from the Leader and kicked him in the stomach.

Naruto grins as he punched the biggest bandit away, knocking some teeth out.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!  
Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!  
"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar  
That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

A Princess is seen standing on the balcony of her castle, looking out in the distance. Her face is hidden only showing her mouth. She turns around and heads back inside, showing she's holding a yellow star charm.

A Masked Boy is seen sitting on top of a building. He looks up at the full moon before he stood up and walked away, vanishing into the darkness.

**Throw boredom away  
And start running  
**  
Naruto is holding onto a Ring as it starts to glow brightly. One by one, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Silver the Hedgehog overlaps Naruto before they disappeared.

He showed a grin as he transforms and was flying through the sky. Naruto then does a Spin Dash as it charges at the screen.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Naruto is arguing with Sasuke about something while Sakura and Kakashi look on. The second is Squad 7 walking through the vllage. The third is Naruto trying to take Kakashi's book, but the Jōnin had his hand on his head to keep him from reaching it. The fourth is Naruto doing his Sexy Jutsu at Iruka, who gained a nosebleed and fell backwards. The last picture is Hiruzen and Naruto on the Hokage Monument watching the sunset.

The scene change to show Naruto and Sasuke fist bumping with smirks on their faces.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is a cage with glowing red eyes appearing in the darkness. The second picture is the Princess looking at a photo of her and Naruto together. The third is the Masked Boy, but his back is turned to the readers and he had his mask off.

The scene changes to show Naruto doing some acrobatic tricks in the air before he grins.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

Naruto lands on the ground as the camera zooms away from him, showing his Squad together. He finishes the opening as he give a thumbs up.

The Chaos Emeralds appear in the background.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ladies and Gents, welcome to the all new remake of Naruto: The Ultimate Ninja. Now this story won't be the same as what my brother wrote years ago back in 2013. Everything is completely redone from the ground up, including a new story arc that wasn't in the original story after the Wave Arc. Some elements will remain while others not so much. Just think of this as my version of Ultimate Naruto.

Now Naruto does have the powers and abilities of Sonic, Shadow and Silver. However, he's just now learning them so he doesn't have _all_ of them. But over time, he will learn more of those powers and come up with his own set of abilities. Not only that, but those level up items from the past Sonic games (e.g. Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and Sonic Unleashed) will be making an appearance as they will further increase Naruto's powers. To be honest with you guys, I miss those upgrades along with those Emblems, really hope we see them again in the next Sonic (Sonic Adventure 3).

As for Naruto's personality, as the result of Sonic, Shadow and Silver's spirits fusing in his heart, he have their personalities mixed into one, with his hyperactive personality still there.

Like Sonic, he'll be "like the wind", going off to search for more awesome adventures while also gaining other traits that make Sonic...well Sonic, including his cocky, arrogant, egotistical attitude, while still be fun loving and adventurous.

Like Shadow, there will be times when Naruto will get deadly serious if the situation calls for it and will even go dark and edgy if need be. Like if he makes a threat, he'll stay true to it no matter what. In fact, Naruto demonstrated Shadow's personality early on when he was very young, which will be shown at a later date.

Finally, like Silver, Naruto will have a strong sense of justice and certain traits that makes Silver who he is.

Well, that's all I gotta say. And remember, read and review to tell me what you guys think about this remastered story.


	2. Ultimate 2

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1: Sonic Drive [English Version]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Various pictures of a grinning Naruto appears doing poses based on Sonic the Hedgehog: One is him doing the pose from Sonic Adventure. Another is him doing the Sonic Adventure 2 pose. The third is him doing the Sonic Heroes pose. The fourth is him doing one of many poses from Sonic Channel. The last is him doing the Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) pose.

The scene changed to show a Gold Ring falling and hitting the grassy ground.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appear: One is Sasuke striking a pose, with a serious look on his face. The second is Sakura smiling at the readers. The third is Kakashi standing, holding his book and looking at the readers. The fourth is Iruka with his hands on his hips, smiling at the viewers. The last picture is Hiruzen, smirking slightly.

The scene change to show a yellow blur running out of the village.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The yellow blur reveals itself to be Naruto running through a forest before he jumps off a cliff with a smile on his face as the title appears:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja!**

***Instruments***

The Hidden Leaf Village is shown in all its glory. Naruto is standing on top of his father's head at the Hokage Mountain, looking down at it with a grin on his face. He wipes his thumb across his nose.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today  
The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is walking around with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face. He grins as he runs ahead, jumping from building to building before he runs on one and flips off of it.

**If I don't keep running  
There's no other meaning**

Naruto lands on the roof, fixing his Forehead Protector. He looks ahead, seeing Sasuke and Sakura smile at him. They looked back and saw Kakashi standing on cable from a utility pole. He knees down and waves at his team.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins and gave his sensei a thumbs up, making Kakashi blink before smiled sheepishly.

**Bio-rhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

Naruto is on a branch, leaning his back on the tree. He reaches into his pocket and took out a purple star charm, looking at it with a sad frown.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

A young girl, her upper face shadowed over, appears and she is smiling.

Naruto blinks and walks ahead, while putting his star charm back in his pocket. He jumps off the tree branch and was instantly covered in a blue wind as he starts to fly across the sky.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack  
Surpass everything altogether  
I won't let anyone, or anything get ahead of me**

Squad 7 is fighting off a bunch of Bandits. Naruto is using his Spin Dash as he got through a bunch of larger Bandits, blowing them all away. Sasuke trips one of them and does kicks some of them across the face. Sakura punched one and then grabs his arm. And Kakashi blocks a sword attack from the Leader and kicked him in the stomach.

Naruto grins as he punched the biggest Bandit away, knocking some teeth out.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!  
Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!  
"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar  
That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

A Princess is seen standing on the balcony of her Castle, looking out in the distance. Her face is hidden only showing her mouth. She turns around and heads back inside, showing she's holding a yellow star charm.

A Masked Boy is seen sitting on top of a building. He looks up at the full moon before he stood up and walked away, vanishing into the darkness.

**Throw boredom away  
And start running  
**  
Naruto is holding onto a Ring as it starts to glow brightly. One by one, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Silver the Hedgehog overlaps Naruto place before they disappeared.

He showed a grin as he transformed and was flying through the sky. Naruto then does a Spin Dash as it charges at the screen.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Naruto is arguing with Sasuke about something while Sakura and Kakashi look on. The second is Squad 7 walking through the Village. The third is Naruto trying to take Kakashi's book, but the Joūnin had his hand on his head to keep him from reaching it. The fourth is Naruto doing his Sexy Jutsu at Iruka, who gained a nosebleed and fell backwards. The last picture is Hiruzen and Naruto on the Hokage Monument watching the sunset.

The scene change to show Naruto and Sasuke fist bumping with smirks on their faces.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is a cage with glowing red eyes appearing in the darkness. The second picture is the Princess looking at a photo of her and Naruto together. The third is the Masked Boy, but his back is turned to the readers and he had his mask off.

The scene changes to show Naruto doing some acrobatic tricks in the air before he grins.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

Naruto lands on the ground as the camera zooms away from him, showing his Squad together. He finishes the opening as he give a thumbs up.

The Chaos Emeralds appear in the background.

* * *

**Ultimate 2: Squad 7! The Ultimate Team is Born!**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are in a pose based on the Sonic Jam cover art.

* * *

Two days passed since the Scroll of Seals incident. Ever since Naruto's sudden transformation and the defeat of Mizuki, the Hokage called him in wanting to speak to him alone about it, which was perfect for Naruto, since he can talk to him about his parents.

After telling the Hokage that the transformation was a belated birthday present from some very interesting...er...hedgehogs he had met earlier, much to the Hokage's confusion.

Hedgehogs? There's never been any hedgehogs sightings ever in the Leaf Village. And what exactly did they do to Naruto to make him turn into...this? Were they Summon Animals or something?

Knowing that was all that he was going to get out of Naruto, he dismissed him. But before leaving out to get some rest, Naruto told the Hokage something, that made his heart freeze.

_"You were also right about something Old Man. My parents...they weren't just great ninjas. They were the greatest heroes the Leaf Village ever had."_

Naruto said those words softly while staring at the picture of the Fourth Hokage, a small smile on his face as he turned to the Hokage and saw the dumbfounded expression.

The Old Kage was about to ask how Naruto knew but the pre-teen put a finger to his lips and winked before leaving. After he left, Hiruzen could've swore that he saw Minato's picture serious expression change into a smile, making him smile as well.

It would seem that whatever those hedgehogs did to Naruto, they somehow told him the truth about who his parents are. He just had a feeling that it was definitely them, making him even more curious about them and where they're at.

It was then that Naruto started to do his training. The greatest thing that Naruto noticed about his change is that he gained the powers and combat skills of Sonic, Shadow and Silver. The reason why is because he kept receiving visions of them using their powers and skills in action.

From Sonic, he has inherited his incredible super fast speed. Even though it's an innate talent that all hedgehogs from their world possess, Sonic's speed was in a class of its own. It had took him a while to get the speed under control as he had ran around the entire village as a yellow blur and would sometimes crash into stuff. But he got it under control in an instant.

From Shadow, he inherited his incredible raw power. While he and Sonic were evenly matched in both speed and power along with combat, it's Shadow's power that outclassed Sonic's speed. From what he learned, he now has the power to tap into this...chaos energy which let's him unleash his chaos powers. He learned that the Inhibitor Rings he wore on his wrists limits the amount of power he uses in combat and other situations. Once he removes them his full power is unleashed which explains the large crater formed after he took out them off while he was out in the village. He surely didn't want to cause a scene.

From Silver, he inherited his telekinesis, if him using it against Mizuki was any indication. His telekinesis is a powerful force on it's own as he used it to mash a bunch of trees together into a giant ball and flew it off somewhere in the distance. He hoped that the ball didn't land on someone's house or something. Unfortunately for him, it did and he had to make sure no one knew it was him.

He also became more acrobatic and agile as he used his Shadow Clones to dodge a bunch of their attacks. His reflexes were also heightened to the point that he can tell who's gonna attack him from a mile away.

All in all, with the other worldly powers of Sonic, Shadow and Silver Naruto is definitely what you call an 'Ultimate Ninja'. Yeah…he likes the sound of that. Naruto Uzumaki, the Ultimate Ninja. From now on that's gonna be his new title.

Now today, Naruto is excited. The reason why?

Today is the day that he'll be put on a Squad. Before he left, he made sure to grab his Forehead Protector, including with the star charm she gave him.

While he was walking to the Academy, he saw a box with two eye holes on it and they were painted to look like rocks. An amused smirk appears as he lifted a finger and pointed at the box.

The box was covered in cyan lights and was thrown away showing a little boy.

"What's up Konohamaru?" He greeted the boy.

Konohamaru is the grandson of the Third Hokage. He wore a yellow shirt with the Konoha symbol in red, grey shorts, and a long blue scarf. He had on a grey helmet that had an orange frowning face on the right side, a red circle on the left side, and had a hole at the top for his brown hair to stick out of.

The two met each other after Naruto went to take his Ninja Registration and the little kid claims he wanted to become the Fifth Hokage. He wanted the people of the Village to see him as Konohamaru Sarutobi and not as 'Honorable Grandson'. Naruto then decided to take the kid in as his rival and little apprentice.

He took him around the Village, teaching him what little he knows about chakra. Not only that, but he gave Konohamaru a demonstration of his Sexy Jutsu. He even had the kid try to turn into a woman, only to turn into an ugly fat version of her.

Of course, Naruto got punched by the woman while she was telling Konohamaru to keep practicing. He even ran into the kid's caretaker Ebisu, the closet pervert who Naruto enjoys mocking.

"That was a slick and awesome move that you did Boss!" Konohamaru exclaimed happily. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"

"...sure." Naruto looked away. In other words, 'sorry kid not happening'. "I got to go back to the Academy for my team placement."

"Team placement?"

"Yeah." Naruto points to his Forehead Protector which is on top of his head with cocky grin. "Today, you're looking at an official ninja."

"Wow!" Konohamaru said in awe.

"Catch ya later." Naruto said as he ran off really fast, turning into yellow blur, leaving an awe Konohamaru behind.

"That. Is. So. COOL!"

* * *

**Ninja Academy**

All of the Genin who graduated from the Academy are talking amongst themselves that they're finally going to become ninjas/kunoichi. Most of the girls however wanted to be kunoichi because they wanted to impress the last survivor of the Uchiha Clan and maybe he'll go on a date with one of them.

Naruto is seen walking through the door and took a seat right next to the girls object of affection. He put his arms behind his and kicked his feet up on the desk, whistling a tune.

One of the students, Shikamaru Nara, stopped walking to go to his seat and took a look at the new guy. Who the heck is that? He never saw him before. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the whisker marks on his face. There was only one person in the Village who only have whiskers.

"Naruto? Is that you?" He asked as the whole class stopped what they were doing and took a look at the red streak blonde, making his eyes widen.

_"Oh crap! I was so caught up in training I forgot that these guys haven't seen the new me!"_

The girls began to blush at Naruto's new appearance especially a certain Hyuga girl who blushed up a storm at seeing his muscles.

"Hey! What's up with the Genjutsu? I thought you sucked at that! And what are you even doing here? This is for Graduates!" Kiba Inuzuka asked.

"I did graduate!" Naruto exclaimed, surprising everyone by how deep his voice got, as he pointed at his Forehead Protector. He then stood up on his desk, holding his arms out. "This isn't a Genjutsu! It's the real deal!"

"Yeah right." A boy said as he did a hand-sign. "Release!"

...

...

...

Nothing happened. No smoke. No orange clad Naruto. No nothing, which shocked everyone again.

"Satisfied?" Naruto smirks.

"Wait if this is you, actually you, then what happened?" Shikamaru asked.

"Um...well..." Naruto sweat nervously as he tried to come with an answer. What the hell was he supposed to them!? He can't just say 'Oh there were three hunan-like Hedgehogs that were inside me since I was born and they fused together with me'! He had to come up with something that would seem believable.

"I...uh...hit puberty earlier?"

...

All was silent which made Naruto sweat faster. He silently wished, prayed even, that someone or something get him out of this mess.

"HA! I MADE IT FIRST!"

"FAT CHANCE INO-PIG! I MADE IT!"

Everyone turned to the screaming voices and saw that it was the pink haired girl Sakura Haruno and the platinum blond girl Ino Yamanaka.

_"Oh thank you God!"_ Naruto thought as happy tears of relief fell from his eyes.

"Hey!" Naruto looked and saw Sakura walking up to him, looking at him. "Who the heck are-wait a second Naruto!?" Sakura asked in shock. "What happened to you!? You look different!"

"Wait, that's Naruto!?" Ino asked as well.

_"Damn it why!?"_ Naruto thought to himself, before he turns to the two. "...I hit puberty early...hehe"

...

...

...

_"OH COME ON!"_ Naruto complained inwardly. _"THAT'S GOTTA TO BE BELIEVABLE!"  
_  
"Damn, so you hit puberty before any of us? I'm actually jealous." Kiba said.

"What a drag. Of course it's puberty." Shikamaru said as everyone agreed.

_"...They actually fell for it? Yes! Thank you again God!"_ Naruto thought happily.

"Anyway...your in my way! MOVE IT!" Sakura pushed Naruto off the desk making him fall off and land on his feet.

"Oi!" Naruto exclaimed as he held his palm out, covering Sakura in cyan light, getting everyone's attention. "You didn't even say please!" He began to lift her off the ground, making everyone's eyes widened and causing Sakura to scream out

"W-WHAT IS THIS!?" Sakura screamed as she floated in mid-air.

Everyone was now shock as they turned to Naruto. They never, throughout their years together in the Academy, see Naruto do something like that before! Since when did Naruto have telekinesis!?

They watched as Naruto began to spin his finger, causing Sakura to spin as well as she screamed.

"N-NARUTO! PUT ME DOWN!" Sakura pleaded.

"Nope. Only till you say please." Naruto laughed.

"PLEASE PUT ME DOWN!" Sakura screamed.

"Okay..." Naruto said as he put his arm down, making Sakura drop on Sasuke's lap, making the girls scream in outrage while Sakura blushed heavily that she was on her crush's lap before getting off him.

Sasuke glared at Naruto for the stunt while said red streaked blonde smirked evilly at him before pulling his eye lid and sticking out his tongue.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

The Hokage and a couple of Jōnin are seen in his office and they watched everything that was going on in the Academy through the Third's crystal ball. And to make things simple, they was surprised at Naruto and that power he demonstrated to the whole class.

"Well, that was unexpected." A silver haired man said.

"Yes...Naruto is just full of surprises." The Third chuckled.

The crystal ball starts to show Sasuke still in his brooding state looking at Naruto.

"The most promising new student; Sasuke Uchiha." A male Jounin said. "Is that him?"

"Yes, he is the one." The Third said.

"He's the only survivor left of the Uchiha Clan." A female Jounin with black hair said.

"That's right."

Everyone watched as the image in the crystal ball started to move and started to get a close up on Naruto's face, showing a teasing smile on his face.

_"Naruto Uzumaki, huh?" _The silver haired Chūnin thought.

* * *

"Oh man, Naruto!" Kiba laughed. "That was awesome! Since when did you do that?"

"Since puberty came." Naruto shrugged, deciding to keep to his puberty lie.

"Whoa..." Choji Akimichi said while eating a bag of chips.

"This is the first time I actually saw someone use telekinesis before." Shikamaru said. "I didn't even think something like that exists."

"Well it does now." Naruto smirked, putting his arms behind his head as he leaps and took a seat next to Hinata, making her eyes widen as her face turns red.

_"N-Naruto is sitting next to me! What do I do? What do I do?"_ Hinata thought to herself.

Everyone went quiet when they saw Iruka entering the room.

"Okay class! Take your seats." Iruka told them as everyone did so.

Naruto knowing full well what Iruka was going to say next tuned him off. His speech was about hardships of being a ninja and the responsibilities that they now had to take, blah blah blah. He eventually heard his sensei talking about the three man Squad and began to call out the teams and the Genin who was placed on it.

"Squad 7..." Iruka spoke. "Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno..."

"HA! TAKE THAT INO-PIG!" Sakura shouted pointing at the platinum blonde.

"SHUT UP FOREHEAD GIRL!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Iruka shouted using his famous Big Head Jutsu.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei." They apologized.

"And Naruto Uzumaki. Your Jōnin will be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka said.

"Aw man~ I'm with Mr. Edgy and his wife Mrs. Bubblegum." Naruto whined as the two glared at him, getting his attention. He shrugs at them. "What? I got nothing else to describe you two."

"Hmph. Just don't get in my way, loser." Sasuke told him.

"What the fu-?!" Naruto was gonna shout before Iruka decked him in the face with an eraser.

"Squad 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame. Your Jōnin will be Kurenai Yuhi." Iruka said, ignoring Naruto's groans, as the three nodded.

Hinata however was sad that she won't be on the same team as Naruto. She turned to him and saw that he was looking back smiling at her. _"Oh my gosh! N-Naruto is looking right at me!" _She began to blush tomato red when he leaned to her ear.

"Good luck with your new team, Hinata." He whispered, making her nod as she looked down, a smile on her face.

"Squad 10 will be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Your Jōnin will be Asuma Sarutobi."

"NOOOO!" Ino yelled in disbelief as she slammed her head on her desk as well.

"What a drag..." Shikamaru said as he closed his eyes with Choji nodding his head in agreement.

"That's all for today. You will await here for you Jounins to come and pick you up. Good luck and be careful out there." Iruka said as he exited the room.

* * *

**Later**

The Genin have met their Sensei and went with them except for Squad 7. Sakura is seen pacing around back and forth with an angry look on her face, Naruto is lying on the desk with his eyes closed and feet tapping impatiently, and Sasuke was brooding as usual while looking at the window.

There was nothing but complete silence.

"OKAY THAT'S IT!" Naruto yelled as he stood up and he looks at the eraser board and used his telekinesis to lift it above the door.

"Naruto what are you doing now?" Sakura asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Teaching our _teacher_ a lesson." Naruto said, a smirk on his face.

"He's a high level shinobi." Sasuke said. "There's no way he could fall for such a stupid stunt."

"Oh yeah? Just watch!" Naruto chuckles evilly. "He'll be here in 3...2...1..."

"Is this Squad 7?"

"NOW!" Naruto released the eraser as it landed on the silver-haired Jōnin head, making white chalk dust appear.

Sasuke looked on with a raised eyebrow, Sakura had a surprised and slightly nervous expression, and Naruto had that smirk on his face. The Jōnin didn't say anything as he stared at them.

"Hmm...how do I put this?" The Jōnin said looking thoughtful. "You're all a bunch of idiots."

That caused Sakura to have a depressed expression, Sasuke glared at him, and Naruto had a half lidded expression.

"Well, meet me on the roof." He said as disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"...I hate him already." Naruto said, unknowingly Sasuke agreed.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were all seated on the roof of the Academy, while their sensei was in front of them on top of a railing.

"Okay, now that you are all here. Let's introduce ourselves."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"You know likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future." The Jounin said.

"Why don't you start first?" Sakura suggested causing the Jōnin to say.

"Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I have a few likes, and many dislikes. My hobbies are not your concern."

_"All we know is his name..."_ The Genin thought.

"Okay, you're next." Kakashi said, pointing at Sakura.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes..." Sakura blushed and turned to Sasuke. "I mean the person that I like is..." Still looking at Sasuke. "My dreams for the future..." She blushed even and squeaked happily.

"And what do you hate?"

"Naruto!"

"You still mad about that? You need to let it go." Naruto said, uncaring picking his ear. "You'll start to have wrinkles early if you keep that up, ya know?"

"W-What?! Shut up! No I won't!" Sakura denied even though she secretly took out a mirror to check to see if there were any wrinkles.

Kakashi sweat dropped from that before pointing at Naruto. "Okay, your up."

"Heh! Naruto's the name, speed's my game. My likes are hedgehogs, adventures, chilling, ramen and chili dogs, among other things that's too long to list and I really don't feel like saying." Naruto said as everyone looked at him with confused expressions.

"_Hedgehogs?"_ Kakashi asked. He began to wonder why this kid likes hedgehogs so much but he did sweat drop at the last bit.

"What are chili dogs?" Sakura asked.

"Tell you later. My dislikes are...okay, that list is too long as well, so I'll skip it. I don't have any hobbies, unless rolling around at the speed of sound counts." Kakashi sent a deadpan look at Naruto, wondering what he was talking about. "My dream is to be the greatest Hokage to ever exist and to surpass all the Hokage from the past..." Naruto face softens as he looks down. "And most of all, to find someone very important to me."

Everyone stared at Naruto as he spoke in that soft gentle voice. Sasuke and Sakura had no idea that of all people had someone important to him, so of course they were curious about it. They even wanted to know who that special is.

Kakashi however just nodded his head and turns to Sasuke. "Okay, you."

"My name...is Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke said. "I hate a lot of things and I don't like anything. My dream for the future...no my _goal_ is to avenge my clan and kill a certain someone." He finished darkly.

…

…

…

The atmosphere grew very dark from what Sasuke said as everyone looked at him with various reactions.

_"He's so hot..."_ Sakura thought with a blush.

_"Sheesh. Who the hell pissed him off?"_ Naruto thought, giving Sasuke a pointed look.

_"Just as I thought..."_ Kakashi said looking at Sasuke. He turned to the others. "Good. You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"Oh yeah! Now we're talking!" Naruto stood up in excitement. "So, what's the mission? We kicking any bad guy butt or something?"

"It's a task...that the four of us will do together." Kakashi said slowly.

"Come on, don't leave us in the dark, what's the mission?" Naruto asked, now getting impatient.

"A survival exercise." Kakashi replied, getting his Genin Squad's attention.

Naruto had a disappointed look on his face. "Say wha~?"

"I thought we were suppose to have a real mission not more practice." Sakura said. "We already did this stuff at the Academy, that's how we got here."

"I don't think this is like our previous training." Naruto said for Kakashi causing Sakura to look at him with a curious expression.

"He's right you know." Kakashi chuckled. "Of the 27 graduates who just came here, only 9 will actually be accepted as Genin. The other 18 will be sent back to the Academy."

"So in other words..." Naruto spoke up getting everyone's attention. "It's a pass or fail test. And if we fail we'll be sent back."

"Give the boy a prize." Kakashi said clapping his hands. He got up. "Meet up at Training Ground 7 tomorrow and skip out on breakfast or else...you'll puke. That's all for today." He finished as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"You gotta be kidding me." Naruto deadpanned as he ran and jumped off the roof, landing onto the next one, leaving Sasuke and Sakura behind.

* * *

**Next Day**

The sun is seen rising over the horizon and Squad 7 is waiting for their Sensei. Sakura had an angry look on her face, Sasuke is resting on a tree, and Naruto was tapping his feet impatient. The sun has now high in the sky and their sensei have finally arrived.

"Morning everyone. Ready for your first day?"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched.

"Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Kakashi said eye smiling at them.

"Really?" Naruto asked with a half-lidded gaze.

Kakashi walked over to a stump and sat an alarm clock on it getting curious glances from his Genin. He pushed the yellow button that was on top of it and took out two bells.

"What's up with those?" Naruto asked.

"Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells away from me. That's all there is to it." Kakashi explained. "Now the alarm is set to noon. So if you can't get them by then, you can't have lunch." He turned to the three wooden posts. "You'll be tied up to those posts and watch while I'll eat my lunch in front of you."

Stomachs can be heard growling and the kids had hungry looks on their faces.

_"Why did we listen to this guy?"_ Naruto thought in despair.

"Hey hold on, there's three of us." Sakura said. "So how come there's only two bells?"

"Well that way, at least one of you will be tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing for completing the mission." Kakashi explained eye smiling at them. "That one goes back to the Academy. You may also begin to go all out on me."

"But sensei, wouldn't you get hurt?" Sakura asked causing Naruto to just shake his head.

"He's a Jonin, Sakura. Meaning that he can't get hurt from us Genin."

"That's right." Kakashi said. "You may begin...NOW!"

Sasuke and Sakura jumped away hiding from away while Naruto stood there with a tired expression on his face. Kakashi tilted his head to the side with a deadpanned expression.

"You know compared to the others, you're a little...weird."

"Yeah? Well the only thing that's weird here is that haircut. There, that hurts don't it?" Naruto asked as he did a few stretches. "Yeah! That's right, I'm stretching. Got a problem with that? I want to enjoy taking you down, without some pulled muscle slowing me down." He then started to do a few jabs. "Okay, let's do this. Course...if you wanna run away..." He starts to do push-ups with one hand. "Please feel free. There's no shame in it." He stood up. "Well, maybe a little shame."

Kakashi, along with the other two, sweat drops at Naruto. They watched as he got up and cracked his knuckles. Kakashi reached into his pouch and took out an orange book that read 'Icha Icha Paradise'.

"What the?" Naruto asked with a sweat drop. "What are you doing?"

"Just reading. And I just want to find out what happens in the end." Kakashi said reading it.

A vein appeared on Naruto's head as his eye twitched. This guy was mocking! Oh he's so gonna regret that!

**Battle** **Music: Emerald Beach [Sonic Battle]**

He took off in an yellow streak of light and went into Kakashi's face which surprised him. He went forward to go and punch him but he quickly dodged it by jumping a few meters away. Naruto ran to him again and went to go try to knee him in the face. But his sensei blocked it, with his arms, and was sliding across the dirt while still standing.

_"Whoa!"_ Kakashi thought looking at Naruto. _"That was seriously too close. I didn't sense any chakra, that was pure speed! He might even be faster than Guy! The Third wasn't joking, this kid is seriously full of surprises."_

Sakura, who was hiding under a bush, watched the event take forward in awe. She never saw Naruto move that fast before and he actually made their sensei slid across the dirt. "Whoa...how did Naruto move so fast?"

Sasuke, who was hiding on a tree branch, watched everything with his eyes widening in shock. All he saw was a yellow blur and Naruto just appeared in front of him. There's no doubt about it. That was pure speed Naruto had.

**"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"** Naruto did the hand sign. In a puff of smoke 7 Narutos appeared around him. "Get him!"

The clones charged in at Kakashi who just looked at them while holding his book. "Wow. So the rumors are true."

The clones jumped to the air and began to air dash towards him. Just when Kakashi was about to move in, he was stopped by two other Naruto's coming from behind him, which in turn caught him by surprise.

"You should never turn your back on your enemies sensei!" The real one exclaimed crossing his arms.

Sasuke gasped from that and Sakura was in awe how cool Naruto became. They watched as the rest of the clones began to hold Kakashi in as he was struggling to get them off of him.

_"I was wrong. Naruto is definitely cool!"_ Sakura exclaimed smiling at him.

_**"CHA! Take him down!"**_ Inner Sakura exclaimed.

_"He used the Clones as a way to keep him immobile. Nice!"_ Sasuke thought as a smirk appeared on his face.

Naruto held his palm out and the cyan circles begins to glow with his hands being covered in cyan aura. "MOVE!" He commanded the clones as they did so and Kakashi was now seen floating with a cyan aura appearing all over him.

"Well now...this is really impressive." Kakashi said, looking at Naruto. "Your actually using telekinesis. That's a rare ability to have."

"Thanks." He smirked as he moved his hand backed and began to gather enough psychokinetic energies.

After he was finished charging, he moved his hand forward and sent out a strong shock wave of psychokinetic energies making Kakashi fly backwards to a tree. Sasuke and Sakura gasped at how fast Kakashi was sent flying but all he had was a bored expression.

When he hit the tree, he gasped out in pain but soon disappeared in a puff of smoke causing the Genin to raise an eyebrow. When the smoke cleared up, Kakashi was replaced with a log making the Genin's eyes to widen.

"What the hell-where did he go!?" Naruto asked. He looks around the area and saw that a bell was on the ground. A half lidded expression appeared on his face before grins smugly. "Does he really think I'm gonna fall for a stupid trick like that?" His eyes looked around him before he used his telekinesis to make the bell come to him. His eyes widen as he sensed danger.

"NARUTO! Look out behind you!" Sakura called out causing said red streak blonde's eyes to widen.

"Oh crap." He turns his head really fast and saw Kakashi kneeling behind him with a hand sign. His pupils shrank when he saw his hand was aiming for his butt. "Y-You wouldn't dare!"

**"Hidden Leaf Jutsu: A Thousand Years of Death!"** Kakashi called out with a twinkle in his eyes as he charged his hand to Naruto's behind.

**Music Ends**

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed comically as he got sent flying away and into the pond.

Sakura had an annoyed expression. "All he did was poke him." She whispered.

"Those two...are total idiots." Sasuke whispered as he shook his head but then his eyes widen as he realized Kakashi's wasn't paying attention and was only picking up the bell. _"His guard is down! Now's my chance!"_ He threw a bunch of shurikens at him.

The shurikens hit Kakashi causing him to fly a few meters back. That made Sakura gasped in shock that their sensei just got hit.

**POOF!**

The white haired Jōnin used a Substitution Jutsu again and this time he disappeared without a trace. Sasuke soon started to jump from tree branch to tree branch, trying to escape from the Jounin since he gave away his position.

_"He let his guard down on purpose!"_

Naruto has just rose from the pond and coughed out water. He spun around really fast and was dry in a second.

"Oh. It's on." Naruto growled in anger at being stabbed in the butt. He then ran off.

* * *

Sakura was following/searching for her crush. _"Sasuke, where'd you go? Don't tell me Kakashi-sensei got to you? No! He can't capture my Sasuke! I won't let him!"_

The pink Kunoichi stopped her running when she saw Kakashi leaning on a tree reading that perverted orange book. "Good." She whispered. "He didn't see me. I'm safe."

"Sakura. Behind you."

She gasped and turned around only to be face to face with her sensei. She suddenly felt really dizzy and there was a whole bunch of leaves flying around her. She closed her eyes and opened them again as she turned to many directions with a confused expression.

"Oh my! I think I felt something! What was it!?"

"S-Sakura..."

"Sasuke!" Sakura beamed happily as she turned to him. She then stood there as her precious Sasuke was all bloody and that he had several kunais on his body.

"S-Sakura...help me. Please. Help me!"

Sakura eyes started to tear and she screamed to the heavens above. She soon fainted.

Kakashi is seen sitting on a tree branch reading his orange book. "I think I overdid it a bit. But she's got to learn how to see through these things."

* * *

Naruto blinked as he stops running and looks around. "Sakura? What the heck happened to her?" He asked himself. His eyes widened as he sensed something close by. "W-What...?" He looks to where his senses was tingling, completely forgetting about his revenge for that sneak attack.

He runs towards it and saw that there was a small hole in the ground.

"Huh?" Naruto digs the dirt out and his eyes widened as he saw a green glowing wmerald. "An emerald? What's that doing out here?" He slowly reaches out and touched it.

The moment he did he felt a surge of energy seep into his system. As it did, Naruto saw a vision of the seven Emeralds together before it changed to show Shadow holding one of them in his hands. The vision also showed Sonic transforming using those emeralds, including Shadow and Silver.

The vision ended as Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. He looks down at the emerald in awe. "Chaos Emeralds...the gems of miracles…"

Naruto close his eyes and began to concentrate on the Emerald. Once he did, it started to glow. **"Chaos Control!"** Once those words left his lips, time stopped all around him. Naruto runs to the clock and saw it stopped.

"WHOA! It worked! Which means..." Naruto trailed off. He quickly ran off and saw Kakashi standing behind a tree watching Sasuke and Sakura. "Oh this is gonna be good." He walks up behind Kakashi and took the bells, putting them in his pocket. He then took another pair of different bells which were gold and had a blue string on it.

"Still though it doesn't make sense. Why would our teach give us this test with just two bells when there's only three of us? Three of us but only two bells and only two of us can pass..." Naruto thought out loud before his eyes slowly widen. "What if...what if this isn't just a test for one of us to get the bells but all three of us to get them together, as a team! That's why we're a three man cell! That's also why he's making us Genin fight him a Jōnin! We're supposed to fight him together to get the bells not at once!"

He face-palmed himself in disbelief. "Damn, could've figured that out sooner. Hey at least now I know I feel smarter." He looks around and heads back to the kunai-shaped stone. "Time for me to return time back to normal."

He snaps his fingers as everything returned to normal.

**RIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!**

"I am so gonna have fun with this." Naruto muttered to himself as he threw the emerald in the air before catching it and putting it in his pocket. He was going to walk off but stopped when he saw a bento lying around.

His stomach growled as he eyed it before looking left and right. He ran up to it and opened it up, seeing that there was actual smoking hot food in it.

Naruto drooled at the sight of it. "Well...maybe a _tiny_ bite won't hurt." He picks it up and was going to walk off.

"I don't think so." A voice spoke up from above Naruto, making him stop in his track.

"_...crap."_ Naruto sweated before he chuckled sheepishly. "Say, you know I'm just playing around, right Teach?"

"Nice try." Kakashi said.

* * *

Naruto had crocodile tears falling from his eyes. The reason why? It's because he's tied to one of the post while Sasuke and Sakura sat in front of them. Kakashi stood in front of them, looking at them with hard look in his eye.

"Well now..." Kakashi spoke up appearing before the Genin. "Looks like all three of you didn't manage to capture the bells, which means you fail."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto asked, as his entire being glowed. Something came out of his pocket and floated in front of everyone, showing it were the bells, shocking them to the core.

"The bells!?" Sakura asked.

"_When did-?"_ Sasuke thought in shock.

Kakashi checked his pouch, where the bells were hung...and they were there?! No wait, these are different bells as they were colored gold and they had blue ribbons tied on them. He actually switched the bells around!? He turns to Naruto in amazement.

"How did you?"

"When you weren't paying attention to me and was busy fighting Sasuke, I used my telekinesis to quietly get the bells and managed to replace them with the ones I got from the store." Naruto lied, as he didn't want to tell them about his time-stopping ability...yet. He got out of the ropes and wrapped his arm around Sasuke's neck bringing him close, much to his annoyance. "It was all apart of the plan, right Sasuke?"

"Plan?" Kakashi tilt his head to the side.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke blinked and looked at Naruto, since he had idea what he was talking about.

"Yup. After you caught Sakura, I managed to drag Sasuke away and told him about this awesome plan of mine." Naruto explained. "Sasuke is more of a lone wolf type of guy, so I told him to distract you while I went into hiding and use my telekinesis to take the bells, right from underneath your nose." He stuck his tongue out.

"When did you get the time to actually talk to Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, slightly impressed.

"Hey, I'm the fastest thing alive." Naruto smirked. "Not even _you_ can keep up with me. Right Sasuke?" He turns to his rival and winks at him.

Sasuke was no fool. He knew damn well that Naruto is a total lier and he actually got their sensei fooled. But he must have some reason to lie to their teacher like that. And judging from the look in his eyes, he wanted him to play along.

"Tch." Sasuke scoffed and released himself from Naruto, looking away.

Sakura was amazed at Naruto's plan as she looked at him in a whole new light. But she won't lie, she felt herself embarrassed at being caught in simple Genjutsu and fainted like that.

Kakashi stared long and hard before he eye smiled. "Hm, very impressive. Looks like Naruto managed to capture both bells at the same time especially with Sasuke's help. Now the question is...who are you going to give the bells too?"

"Both of them." Naruto said, using his telekinesis to give them to his Squad, causing Sakura to gasp and Sasuke's eyes to widen.

"Are you sure Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "Cause if you give those two the bells then you'll be the one to be sent to the Academy."

"Yeah, I'm cool with it." Naruto said.

"But Naruto!" Sakura spoke getting his attention. "That means you just failed the test! What about your dream of becoming Hokage or finding that person you were talking about?" She hands the bell back to him. "Here you can have mine."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked in surprise. Did Sakura just offer him a bell? "No you keep it! I don't want it!"

"But you got them before us! So you at least deserved it!"

"But I don't want you guys to fail! We're supposed to be a team right? What kind of teammate am I if both of you don't pass?"

Sakura's eyes widened from that along with Sasuke. She looks at the bell then at Naruto. "Then...then I don't want it!" She said as she threw the bell at Kakashi, who caught it in his hands

"I don't want it neither." Sasuke said, getting everyone's attention, he tossed the bell at Kakashi. "The fact that Naruto's plan worked and that he's willing to give them to us, shows that he wants us to be a team. And if he doesn't get to be apart of our team then I might as well not take it."

"Sasuke...Sakura…" Naruto was absolutely stunned silence. He was not expecting that kind of reaction at all, especially from these two. It nearly brought a tear to his eyes.

"Well then...you all pass." Kakashi said eye smiling with the Genin, except Naruto, looking at him with confused expression.

"Huh? What do you mean we passed?" Sakura asked.

"You're the first Squad to ever succeed." Kakashi said.

"Really? We're the _first_?" Naruto asked, making sure he heard right.

"All the others had no idea whatsoever about this test, unlike you 's why we put you into three man Squads, it's all about teamwork." Kakashi explained. "Here's something I would like all for you learn." He walks up to a Kunai-shaped structure that has people's names on it.

"Have you ever seen this stone? The names engraved on it? These are Ninja who are honored as heroes in the Village."

"You mean..." Naruto trailed off, looking uncomfortable, as Kakashi nodded.

"This is a Memorial Stone. The names of my closest friends are on it. Some of them, including one of my friends, broke some rules but were still considered heroes in the end." The Genin looked down in mourning for those heroes.

_"Mom...Dad...are you on there?" _Naruto asked.

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true." Kakashi looks up at the sky. "But those who abandoned their friends are worse than scum."

Naruto chuckled as grinned.

"Oh." Sakura smiled.

Sasuke closed his eyes and smiled.

**Insert Song: You're My Number One [Sonic R]**

"The exercise is over." Kakashi said. "Everyone passes. Squad 7 starts its first mission tomorrow!" He gave his Genin a thumbs up.

"Yes!" Sakura cheered happily.

"ALRIGHT!" Naruto flipped in the air and did a pose.

Sasuke nodded to himself.

"Let's go home." Kakashi said as they all walked away together.

Naruto looked at the stone one more time before he smiled and nodded to himself as he walks away.

**Song Ends**

* * *

Naruto is in his apartment, staring at the Chaos Emerald. "A Chaos Emerald. Seven Emeralds that hold the key to unlock unlimited power. I can't believe Sonic and the others had these in their world."

Naruto stared at the Emerald once more as he lied in bed. "From the vision I saw these Emeralds have both positive and negative energy which the hedgehogs, or anyone in general can use them for amazing or terrifying things. I hate to imagine what would happened if someone managed to get their hands on all seven of them and used them for evil purpose, especially if they're ninja."

**Ending 1: The Shining Road [English Version]**

***Instruments***

He sits up and looks outside. "Since I got one of them then that means there's six more out there somewhere. I better find them before anyone else does." He grins to himself. "Looks like things have just gotten way past cooler! Adventure here I come!"

* * *

**The world around us is so magical  
But now it's been placed under a spell**

The shot of the Hidden Leaf Village is shown at night. However, the sun starts to rise in the distance.

**My love, come with me** **and together we shall search to find a charm**

**We'll travel to the land of our dreams where forbidden dreams just may come true**

Naruto is sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's mountain head as he stares at the rising sun. The wind starts to blow as it moved his hair to the side. He looks down at his hand, staring at his star charm, a sad look on his face.

He close his eyes and puts the charm on his chest for a moment, not seeing it glowing slightly.

**When we're alone tomorrow, we will sneak away and secretly meet**

**Up on top of a hill, where there are birds everywhere and we can be all alone**

At the same time, a Princess is seen at her castle, staring at the rising sun as well, a sad look on her face. She walks back to her room and picks up her star charm from her bed, placing it on her chest and closing her eyes, not seeing it glow.

**I know someday, I'll hold your hand. While we sit alone in the morning mist**

**And the seal in our way, of our shining road will be broken**

Back in the Leaf Village, a younger Naruto opens his eyes and saw he was in a mist. He walks forward, looking around in confusion.

Unknown to Naruto, the Princess, who got younger also, appeared behind him and was looking around as well. They both stopped walking as they felt each other's presence.

They slowly looked back at each other with surprised expressions. Naruto ended up smiling happily as he ran to her and grabbed her hand, bringing a smile on the Princess's face. The two ran off together, before they disappeared.

**Till the end of time**

Naruto and the Princess, in their older forms, stood back to back, eyes closed and smiles present on their faces. In their hands, were their star charms.

* * *

**Omake: Naruto's Speedy Accident**

Naruto stood on a roof as he looks around, seeing the area was in the clear. "Okay, no people around, streets are in the clear. Alright! Let's do it to it!"

The Ultimate Ninja jumps off the roof of the building and starts to run around the empty streets at supersonic speed. Since the streets were cleared it was safe for him to run around whenever and however he wants. Plus, nobody would be out this late at night.

"Ah yeah! Gotta go faster!" Naruto cheered as his legs turned circular and he was starting to leave behind a trail of fire. "Ha! I haven't had this much fun in a long time!" If he were to pay attention, he would have noticed something on the road ahead of him. "This is way past-!"

Everything stopped for a moment as Naruto's foot made contact with a banana peel. Time returned to normal as Naruto instantly stopped running and slid on the peel.

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed as he rolled comically down the road and into the public bathhouse.

The bathhouse that's currently being occupied by women.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The women's screams echoed throughout the night, along with the pained screams of poor Naruto Uzumaki as he was getting the beat down of a lifetime.


	3. Ultimate 3

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1: Sonic Drive [English Version]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Various pictures of a grinning Naruto appears doing poses based on Sonic the Hedgehog: One is him doing the pose from Sonic Adventure. Another is him doing the Sonic Adventure 2 pose. The third is him doing the Sonic Heroes pose. The fourth is him doing one of many poses from Sonic Channel. The last is him doing the Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) pose.

The scene changed to show a Gold Ring falling and hitting the grassy ground.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appear: One is Sasuke striking a pose, with a serious look on his face. The second is Sakura smiling at the readers. The third is Kakashi standing, holding his book and looking at the readers. The fourth is Iruka with his hands on his hips, smiling at the viewers. The last picture is Hiruzen, smirking slightly.

The scene change to show a yellow blur running out of the village.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The yellow blur reveals itself to be Naruto running through a forest before he jumps off a cliff with a smile on his face as the title appears:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja!**

***Instruments***

The Hidden Leaf Village is shown in all its glory. Naruto is standing on top of his father's head at the Hokage Mountain, looking down at it with a grin on his face. He wipes his thumb across his nose.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today  
The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is walking around with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face. He grins as he runs ahead, jumping from building to building before he runs on one and flips off of it.

**If I don't keep running  
There's no other meaning**

Naruto lands on the roof, fixing his Forehead Protector. He looks ahead, seeing Sasuke and Sakura smile at him. They looked back and saw Kakashi standing on cable from a utility pole. He knees down and waves at his team.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins and gave his sensei a thumbs up, making Kakashi blink before smiled sheepishly.

**Bio-rhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

Naruto is on a branch, leaning his back on the tree. He reaches into his pocket and took out a purple star charm, looking at it with a sad frown.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

A young girl, her upper face shadowed over, appears and she is smiling.

Naruto blinks and walks ahead, while putting his star charm back in his pocket. He jumps off the tree branch and was instantly covered in a blue wind as he starts to fly across the sky.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack  
Surpass everything altogether  
I won't let anyone, or anything get ahead of me**

Squad 7 is fighting off a bunch of Bandits. Naruto is using his Spin Dash as he got through a bunch of larger Bandits, blowing them all away. Sasuke trips one of them and does kicks some of them across the face. Sakura punched one and then grabs his arm. And Kakashi blocks a sword attack from the Leader and kicked him in the stomach.

Naruto grins as he punched the biggest Bandit away, knocking some teeth out.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!  
Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!  
"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar  
That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

A Princess is seen standing on the balcony of her Castle, looking out in the distance. Her face is hidden only showing her mouth. She turns around and heads back inside, showing she's holding a yellow star charm.

A Masked Boy is seen sitting on top of a building. He looks up at the full moon before he stood up and walked away, vanishing into the darkness.

**Throw boredom away  
And start running  
**  
Naruto is holding onto a Ring as it starts to glow brightly. One by one, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Silver the Hedgehog overlaps Naruto place before they disappeared.

He showed a grin as he transformed and was flying through the sky. Naruto then does a Spin Dash as it charges at the screen.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Naruto is arguing with Sasuke about something while Sakura and Kakashi look on. The second is Squad 7 walking through the Village. The third is Naruto trying to take Kakashi's book, but the Joūnin had his hand on his head to keep him from reaching it. The fourth is Naruto doing his Sexy Jutsu at Iruka, who gained a nosebleed and fell backwards. The last picture is Hiruzen and Naruto on the Hokage Monument watching the sunset.

The scene change to show Naruto and Sasuke fist bumping with smirks on their faces.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is a cage with glowing red eyes appearing in the darkness. The second picture is the Princess looking at a photo of her and Naruto together. The third is the Masked Boy, but his back is turned to the readers and he had his mask off.

The scene changes to show Naruto doing some acrobatic tricks in the air before he grins.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

Naruto lands on the ground as the camera zooms away from him, showing his Squad together. He finishes the opening as he give a thumbs up.

The Chaos Emeralds appear in the background.

* * *

**Ultimate 3: First C-Rank Mission to the Land of Waves! A New Adventure Begins!**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto is relaxing in his apartment. He is covered in a cyan aura and had many stuff floating around.

* * *

Another beautiful day in the Leaf Village as the sun shines down on a field of trees.

_"Sasuke, I'm in Point B."_

_"Sakura, I'm in Point C."_

_"Speed Demon, I'm in Point A. And come on! Use your code names!"_

_"No need for that Naruto."_

_"...Fine. Ruining my fun."_

_"Okay Squad 7. Hm? The target has moved! Follow it!"_

Rustling can be heard as Squad 7 moved to go and search for the target. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were hiding behind trees and they slightly peaked, seeing the target which was a small four leg shadowy creature. The Genin Squad moves from tree hiding from the creature's sight.

"Target is 5 meters away from us." Naruto spoke. "Ready when you are."

"I'm ready too." Sasuke spoke up.

"So am I." Sakura said.

_"Okay...NOW!"_

The three Genin jumped at the shadowy figure and Naruto captured it. And the target...?

A brown cat with a pink ribbon on it's hair.

**Music: Fooling Mode [Naruto]**

"Hold still you damn cat!" Naruto screeched holding the struggling cat but screamed as it got on his face and began to scratch him. He looks at Sakura and saw she was smiling at the cat. "Hey! A little help please!?" He then blinked as he realized. "Wait, what am I doing?"

A cyan aura appeared around him and he lift the cat away from his face as it looked at the ground in a dumbfounded manner.

"Affirmative, we got a positive ID." Sasuke told Kakashi.

_"Right. Lost Pet Tora captured. Mission accomplished."_

That's right. Today's mission was to capture a run away cat. After Squad 7 passed the bell test they've been taking on D-Rank missions for the past few days. For D-Ranks they had to watch out for the owners pets, babysit for the parents etc.

"THESE D-RANK MISSIONS SUCK!" Naruto roared as fire came out of his mouth.

* * *

"OH MY PRECIOUS KITTY!" A chubby woman said hugging her cat to death. "I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU'VE COME BACK!" She said as she walked out of the office with her cat crying anime tears.

Squad 7 were at the Mission Assignment Desk, watching as the Fire Daimyo's wife left the room.

"That's what you get you little punk." Naruto muttered, glaring at the door.

_"So that's why he ran away."_ Sakura said.

"Now then." The Third Hokage spoke up. "For Squad 7's next mission, we have several available tasks."

"_This better be something good."_ Naruto thought bitterly.

"Among them is babysitting the Chief Councilors three year old, helping his wife clean the front-"

"Ok! Time out!" Naruto exclaimed, getting everyone's attention. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but can we please go on a mission that's really a challenge? We're Genin! We want some action and adventure not something little kids should do!"

_"He does have a point..."_ Sasuke thought.

_"But he's such a brat sometimes."_ Sakura thought

Kakashi had deadpanned expression on his lone eye. _"I knew this was coming."_

"How dare you!" Iruka yelled, standing up. "You're just a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else, you start with simple missions to develop your skills and improve yourself!"

"_Develop_ our _skills_? _Improve_ ourselves?" Naruto asked, raising a brow and crossing his arms. "How does babysitting a three year old kid _improve_ ourselves? What in being a parent or something? Matter of fact, what kind of ninja takes missions like this anyway? You can't even call it a mission, it's just us doing chores that people around here are to damn lazy to-"

**Bonk!**

Naruto went into a kneeling position and held his head. He glares up at Kakashi comically.

"Will you put a lid on it?" Kakashi asked.

**Music Ends**

Naruto was going to tell him off but he cut off by Hiruzen.

"Naruto. It seems you don't understand the tasks that you've been given." The Third said, getting his attention. "Listen many different kinds of requests come to our village everyday. From babysitting to assassination."

As the Hokage continued to explain the concept and reasons for the missions that are Ranked D-A, with everyone listening of course, Naruto looks at him while tapping his foot impatiently.

He turns to the readers and points his thumb at the Hokage, shaking his head. He runs out faster than the eyes could see and came back with two Chili Dogs in his hands.

Naruto takes a bite out of one his dogs but noticed the Hokage stopped talking. He looks and saw everyone staring at him.

"What?"

"Where did you get those from?" Kakashi asked, pointing at his Chili Dogs.

"What? I'm hungry." Naruto moved his Chili Dogs away from Kakashi, making him wave his hand to saying 'He doesn't want them'.

"Anyway..." Hokage continued.

"Yeah, we get missions everyday and for whatever missions we do, we gain more experience, the more experience we get the higher the missions are." Naruto said impatiently as he ate the other Chili Dog. He sighed happily before he gained a serious expression, catching everybody completely off guard.

"Look, Lord Hokage..." He ignored the shocked expression on everyone's face. "We done enough of these D-Rank Missions to earn a Rank up." The Red Streak Blond said in a matching voice. "But in all honesty and seriousness it's stupid and a complete waste of our time. These D-Ranks are something even children at the Academy can do. In fact, we should've done something like this a very long time ago since we entered the Academy, so that way we can already know about the different Rank Missions as we grow older and gain experience from them, even though we were In-Training. So that way, when we were to graduate and officially become Genin we can automatically do C-Ranks. We're not little kids anymore. We're Ninja and we are ready for the next stage. Or why train us at all?"

Everyone stared at Naruto in complete surprise at his explanation. Earlier, he was acting like a brat and was being disrespectful towards the Hokage, but now his personality just shifted and he turned into a completely different person. He even called the Hokage, Lord Hokage instead of the Old Man he would normally call him.

Even the Hokage himself had his eyes widened in surprise. Now that he thought about it, that actually made a lot of sense. None of them didn't know about the different Rank Missions yet. They learn about that after they become a Team. If they had learned about that in the past and done then they would've been gotten past the experience and do C-Ranks once they graduated. Plus, they have been doing a lot of D-Rank Missions for the past couple of days.

Hiruzen then smiled to himself as he saw Minato appear in Naruto's place, the same expression he had, before he changed back to Naruto.

_"You really are your father's son."_ He thought to himself. "So be it. I'm giving you a C-Rank Mission. You'll be bodyguards."

Sasuke and Sakura gasped in surprise while Naruto's serious expression turned into a happy grin.

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Naruto exclaimed as he did a backflip. "So who is it? Is it a Princess? I bet it's a Princess. I'm waiting~!"

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now." Hiruzen smirked. "Send in our visitor."

Squad 7 turns to the door and they saw an old man enter.

"What the? A bunch of snot nose little kids? They're gonna protect me?" He asked taking a drink of his beer. "You, the tall and spiky one with the idiotic look on your face. You expect me to believe that your a ninja?"

"Tall and spiky..." Naruto looked at Sasuke and noted that he was only a little taller than him. He touched his hair and noted the spikes that resembles Sonic's quills. "Idiotic!?" A comical vein appeared on his head as he tried to walk to him, however, Kakashi grabbed him by his jacket, holding him back.

"Say that to my face old man! I'll kill ya!"

"No killing the client Naruto. It doesn't work that way." Kakashi told his student as Sasuke and Sakura shook their heads.

"Whatever." Naruto crossed his arms.

The man took a drink from his beer and wiped his lips. "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder. And I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that could change our world and I expect you to take me."

"Without even saying please?" Naruto smirked before he turns to everyone. "Alright guys! We got our mission, so let's do it to it!" He instantly ran out of the open window in a yellow blur.

Sasuke, Sakura, Iruka and Kakashi all sighed at Naruto's way of leaving while Hiruzen shook his head tip his hat down.

Tazuna blinked in shock from that sudden speed. He looks at his beer then back to the window. _"This is gonna be a long way back isn't it?"_

* * *

**Later**

Squad 7 and Tazuna walked outside the village gates with their book bags prepared and everything. However, Naruto was already at the gate and was waiting on everyone to show up.

He just couldn't hold in his excitement. He was finally going to leave the village and head out to explore the rest of the Shinobi World. He was finally going to have his very first adventure! Who knows, he might even get a clue on where his friend is if he asked around in Tazuna's country.

Right now, they were starting to walk away from the village, enjoying a nice peaceful travel.

"Say Mr. Tazuna." Sakura spoke up.

"What is it?"

"Your country is the Land of Waves right?"

"Yeah what of it?"

"Kakashi-sensei, there are ninja in that country too aren't there?" Sakura asked.

"No. There are no ninja in the Land of Waves." Kakashi answered. "But in other countries there are Hidden Villages, each with their own different customs and cultures, where ninjas reside. To the people of this continent, the existence of Shinobi Villages mean strength. That's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of power with neighboring countries. The ninja village are not controlled by any government, their independent and have equal status."

"Is that so?" Naruto asked, putting his arms behind his head, looking slightly interested in the story.

"Yup. Now the Land of Waves, which is a small island, doesn't need to be ninja village because it's natural protection is the sea around it. There are five ancient lands that have Shinobi Villages. The Land of Fire, which we live in. And the rest are Lightning, Water, Wind and Earth. Together, they're known as 'The Five Great Shinobi Nation'. Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leafs, Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist, Lightning has the Village Hidden in the Clouds, Earth has the Village Hidden in the Stones, and finally Wind which has the Village Hidden in the Sand."

"Oh!" Sakura beamed happily at her sensei's explanation. "Then that means that our Hokage is really important!"

_**"Cha! Is that old man really such a big deal?"**_ Inner Sakura asked.

"But we won't run into foreign ninjas right?" Sakura asked.

"Not likely." Kakashi said.

In all honesty, Naruto hopes they do run into foreign ninjas. All those days when he's been secretly training in his newfound powers will be seen. He needed some action and being bodyguards are a perfect way to get some. He saw something ahead that caught his attention and he became confused.

"What the heck?" Naruto stopped walking, causing everyone to stop as well and turn to him.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

"That." Naruto pointed up ahead.

Everyone looked to where Naruto was pointing at and they saw small water on the ground.

"It's water. What, you want something to drink?" Tazuna asked.

"Um, no." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Think about it for a second; It's summer right? So why would there be water on a dry ground?"

Kakashi's eyes were narrowed at the water. Naruto's right, there shouldn't be water on dry ground and on a clear day no less.

Naruto saw the look on his sensei's face. He instantly grinned at seeing that look, which can only mean one thing.

It's party time!

**Music: Boss 1 [Sonic Adventure 2]**

A ninja came out of hiding and another came out of the water, both of them wielding long sharp and spiky chains as they caught Kakashi, surprising those around.

"What the!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Do it!" One of the ninja ordered as he and his partner pulled their arms back and they shredded Kakashi in pieces, causing Sakura to step back, a fearful expression on her face.

A serious expression appeared on Naruto's face as he felt them appear behind him.

"Now it's your-!"

"Don't think so!" Naruto jumped up and landed on one of the Ninja's head and jumped off.

Sasuke jumped in the air, taking out his shuriken and kunai. He threw them at the chain and embedded it on a tree. He landed on both Ninjas metal gauntlets, he grabs hold of both and donkey kicked the two in the face, making them stumble back as their chains got off on the gauntlets.

The twin ninja regained their footing and dashed. Naruto turns and saw one of them heading towards him and the other was heading for Tazuna, but Sakura got in front of him.

"Nice try!" Naruto ran behind him, gripping his arm. He grabs his other arm and back-flips really fast, before slamming the mysterious nin on the ground. He jumps off and turns into a spinning spiky yellow ball and slammed into the back of his head, knocking him out.

Naruto grins and instantly turned to face the other Nin. "GUYS! Are you...wha?" Naruto blinked as he saw Kakashi appear, his arm out and gripping the other Ninja's neck with Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna blinking.

"Yo. Nice job Naruto." Kakashi said.

**Music Ends**

"Tch." Naruto turns around and pouts, making Kakashi tilt his head in confusion. "You stole my thunder Kakashi!"

_"Sensei! He's alive!"_ Sakura thought happily.

_"Hmph. Show off."_ Sasuke deadpanned.

"Good job Sasuke, very smooth. You too Sakura." Kakashi said. "By the way, Mr. Tazuna."

"Yeah what?" Tazuna asked.

"We need to have a talk." Kakashi spoke in a serious tone.

"_Someone's in trouble~"_ Naruto thought.

* * *

**Later**

"So...who are these guys?" Naruto asked, staring at the two tied up, knocked out ninja.

"The Demon Brothers. They are Chūnin level Missing Nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attack. They keep fighting without any sacrifice." Kakashi told everyone.

"And they thought that by disguising themselves as a puddle of water,on a clear sunny day no less, was to fool us?" Naruto asked.

One of them was about to wake up, but Naruto wouldn't have any of that. So the Ultimate Ninja kicked him in the face, knocking him back out, making Sakura and Tazuna flinched while Sasuke and Kakashi raised brows from the sudden action.

"Pathetic. To get knocked out by a simple kick from a Genin." Naruto scoffed. "And they call themselves Chūnin."

"In that case, why did you leave it for the Genin to fight?" Tazuna asked, ignoring what Naruto did as it almost creeped him out.

"I could've taken them out quickly but then I'd have learn nothing. I had to know who their target was." Kakashi said, looking at Tazuna. "And what they were after."

"Hm?" The Rookies looked to Tazuna in confusion, while Naruto had a serious look on his face.

"Huh? What are you getting at?" Tazuna asked, feigning ignorance but knew he was screwed.

"You asked for standard protection from simple robbers, but you didn't say anything about no ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this, this would be a A-Ranked Mission. Our task was to simply follow you to your destination and protect you while you finish the bridge. If we knew we would be fielding attacks from enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a A-Rank Mission. You apparently have your reasons but lying to us is not acceptable."

Tazuna looked down not meeting anyone's eyes.

"We're first year Genin, this is too advance for us." Sakura spoke up softly. "We should go back."

"No. I'm still going." Naruto said causing everyone to look at him.

"Naruto! What are you saying? Do you know how dangerous this is?" Sakura asked, eyes widen from what came out of his.

"I know and I don't care." Naruto said, crossing his arms, his serious look coming back. "I'm not the type of person to abandon someone who needs help. That's not how I roll."

"But Naruto, we have rules-"

"And who the hell cares about some stupid shinobi rules that some old farts from the past made?" Naruto interrupted Sakura. "Personally, I don't believe in any of that bull, because whoever made them up can go shove it." His reply shocked and surprised everyone.

"Naruto." Kakashi tried to speak up but Naruto wouldn't have it.

"We maybe ninja but we're still humans, it's in our nature to help those in need, no matter who they are or where they're from, it's the same with all creatures in this world. Shinobi can't just _kill_ their emotions because of a dumbass rule that some idiot made, emotions are what _makes_ us humans, it's what gives us strength!" Naruto looks down at his gloved hand and closed it. "We were given great power and we should use it to help people, to save lives. We shouldn't think of ourselves as tools or weapons when we're out on the mission."

Squad 7 were stupidifed to hear such passionate words from Naruto Uzumaki, the Knuckledheaded Class Clown. But then again, his words did make sense. In the Academy they were taught to "kill off their emotions" when they were out on the field. The most important thing about a shinobi is to be a tool in achieving their village and countries goals. And here was Naruto, someone who was excited to be a ninja, saying that he doesn't believe in the shinobi rules.

"Tazuna is a good man and sure he had his reason to lie, but so what? That alone is prove that someone out there wants his head on a platter and he needs someone to protect him until he can finish his bridge." He looks up at everyone with a determined grin. "And that's gonna be me. No matter how strong the enemy is or how much of a threat they are, I won't run away like coward. I _will_ stand and take them down." He turns his back to his stunned Squad and walks away before stopping. "Kakashi, you told us that those who break the rules are trash, right? Welp, then I guess I'm the biggest trash you've ever met." He shrugs uncaringly, not paying attention to the wide eyed looks sent his way. "Because guess what? I don't follow _anyone's_ rules, _including_ the Hokage. I follow my own rules. I do things my way." He turns and points his thumb up at himself, grinning all the while. "My _own_ way."

**Music: It Doesn't Matter (Instrumental) [Sonic Adventure 2]**

Having said his piece, Naruto turns back and walks away. He didn't pay attention to the stunned look on everyone's faces from hearing his speech and seeing that determination on his face. They honestly couldn't believe how far Naruto is willing to go to help someone in need, even if it means facing severe consequences. He even called himself trash because he simply follows his own rules and he doesn't even care.

Needless to say, all of Squad 7 got new respect for Naruto.

"Naruto..." Sakura whispered. She couldn't believe she was saying this, but he was right. She was always told by her parents and instructors to always follow the shinobi rules.

But now, after hearing Naruto's moving speech, fills her up with newfound determination. She's a shinobi, but she's still human. Maybe she should follow Naruto's example and just follow her own rules. She showed a smile as she nodded her head.

"Hey Naruto! Wait up!" She ran after him.

Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded his head before joining him. He too was thinking about what Naruto said. Following his own rules, do things his own way.

Kakashi watched his Sasuke and Sakura follow Naruto. In truth, he too was also moved by Naruto's speech. Shinobi are born with great power, and they should use that power to protect things that matter to them. Like family or friends. Naruto's speech most definitely made an impact with Sasuke and Sakura, seeing how they're following after him. His strong sense of justice had won the two over. Looks like he'll have something to tell the Hokage once they get back from the mission.

"Alright. Looks like we'de contining with the mission." He walks ahead before looking back at Tazuna, seeing stare at Naruto's back. "Yo. You better hurry up before we leave you behind."

"Y-Yeah! Coming!" Tazuna walked to him all the while looking at Naruto in a whole new light. He knew that the mission would be dangerous but he wanted to continue anyway. _"That kid..." _He smiled and shook his head. That kid is something else.

**Music Ends**

* * *

**Meanwhile**

At an unknown hideout, where no sun is shown to be shining down on it, there is a house in the middle of it. Inside the house were a group of thugs were hiding in.

"FAILED!?" A small business man growled at the man before him on the couch staring at his thugs. "I spent a lot of money to hire all of you because I heard you all were skilled ninja!" He shouted to the man who was sitting on his couch.

"Stop complaining Gato." The man said as he held his long sword to the business man's neck making him sweat. "I'll use this decapitating 'knife' and kill that guy."

"Are you really sure you guys will be okay?" Gato asked. "It looks like the Bridge Builder has hired some good ninjas...and since the Demon Brothers failed in the assassination, they'll be more cautious, so it won't be easy..."

"Who do you think I am?" The man giving Gato a death glare. "I, **Zabuza Momochi**, was called the Demon of the Village Hidden in the Mist."

* * *

**Squad 7 **

"I see land!" Naruto told everyone throughout the misty lake.

"How can you tell?" Sakura raised a brow along with Sasuke.

"I have good eyes." Naruto smirked.

Everyone was riding in a boat, crossing the border to go to the Land of Waves.

While riding the boat the entire Squad has learned that Gato, the owner of a company and one of the richest men in the world, is the one who wanted him dead. They also learned that Gato took over Land of Waves and is the one whose controlling everything in the village which made Naruto increase his anger for the man. In fact, Land of Waves is now a poor country thanks to that bastard Gato.

Once they reached land, everyone got out of the boat and continued on their way to the village.

While they was walking, Naruto heard something coming from the bushes. He took out his shuriken and launched them at the bushes, causing the group to stop walking. Naruto began to walk to the bushes and moved them to the side.

When he did, his eyes widened in comical shock. What he saw was a snow white bunny with the shuriken surrounding his being, looking like a deer that got caught.

"Oops." Naruto chuckled sheepishly, picking up the rabbit. "Sorry about that little guy. I thought you were-" He stopped as he sensed something coming.

"GET DOWN!" Kakashi suddenly yelled as he grabbed Tazuna and went to the ground, along with the Genin as a large sword flew in the air and embedded itself on a tree.

"Hey! That's dangerous!" Naruto exclaimed as he released the rabbit, who quickly ran away. Everyone got up and turned to the sword.

They saw a gray-skinned man with bandages wrapped around his lower face standing on it.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the man before them. _"Is that?"_

"Um...who's this guy?" Naruto asked. "You know what forget it, this guy threw a sword at my head!" He was about to charge in but stopped when Kakashi held his arm out. He pouted at Kakashi who ignored it.

"I should have known that Gato would hire you..." Kakashi spoke up getting the man's attention. "Zabuza Momochi. The Demon of the Mist."

"Zabuza Momochi huh?" Naruto snarled as he cracked his knuckles. "Perfect. I know the name of the punk I'm gonna beat down."

"No Naruto. He's way out of your league." Kakashi said sternly.

"Kakashi of the **Sharingan** Eye." Zabuza spoke up. "Did I get that right?" Kakashi's lone eye narrowed.

"The what eye?" Naruto asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"What? Is that some sort of special power?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke looked at Kakashi with a disbelief expression on his face. No way, he has the Sharingan!? But...but how?

"It's too bad huh? But you'll have to hand over the Old Man." Zabuza said as Kakashi gripped his forehead protector that was covering his left eye.

"All if you stay out if this fight and protect Tazuna." Kakashi told his Squad. "I taught you all teamwork and now is the time to use it." He moved his Protector upward and opened his left eye, which was red and had three black dots on it.

"Well looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action. It's an honor." Zabuza said turning his body fully to everyone.

"Okay, can somebody please tell me what this Sharingan thing is?" Naruto asked impatiently, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Sharingan." Sasuke spoke up looking down, getting everyone's attention. "A rare power. It resides in the eyes. The user of this visual jutsu or dojutsu, can instantly see and comprehend any Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu and reflect the attack back at the attacker. The Sharingan is a special rare form of dojutsu. However there's more to the Sharingan than that. A lot more."

"You got it right boy." Zabuza spoke up. "But you only scratched the surface. The Sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique and copy it to the smallest detail."

A mist starts to appear.

"As for you, Jōnin." Zabuza continued as he looked at Kakashi. "Any assassination unit of the Hidden Mist, we had a standing order to kill you on sight. Your profile was in our Bingo Book. They called you the Man who copied over 1000 Jutsu, 'The Copy Ninja'."

Kakashi's eyes were narrowed as he glared at Zabuza.

"Copy Ninja? Wow, I had no idea you were famous Kakashi." Naruto said in an impressed tone. "Let me get an autograph later on."

"Can you _please_ take this seriously?" Sakura asked in annoyance. Her annoyance grew when Naruto's smirk grew.

"Can't. The party is getting started."

Sasuke continued to stare at Kakashi with a look of confusion. _"Wait a minute. The Sharingan is a rare trait that only occurs in a few members of the Uchiha Clan. My Clan. Could he be...?"_

"I need to exterminate the Old Man. Now." Zabuza states as he bent down, getting ready to strike Tazuna, who gasped.

The Genin quickly formed a circle around Tazuna, weapons drawn.

"So I'll have to eliminate you first eh Kakashi?" Zabuza asked, staring down at him as he stood up. He grabbed his sword and jumped off the tree, landing on the water.

"Over there!" Naruto yelled, turning to the splash noises.

He and the others saw him in a stance as wind started to pick up around him. They looked around and saw the mist getting heavier by the second.

**"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"** Zabuza exclaimed as he disappeared into the mist.

"Hm. So this guy wanna play hide and seek, huh?" Naruto asked.

"Sensei." Sakura called out.

"He'll come after me first, all of you stay with Tazuna." Kakashi said, taking a few steps forward.

"So hold up, just to be clear, this guy is a like a former assassin for the Hidden Mist?" Naruto asked.

"That's right. Zabuza Momochi, the ex leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination Unit. He's a master of the Silent Killing technique."

"So he can kill us in an instant. Well that's good to know." Naruto said sarcastically as he noticed the mist getting thicker and thicker. "What's up with this mist?"

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean. This floating mist is ever present." Tazuna answered.

Naruto looks around as he continued to stare at the mist. Outside his expression was serious, but inwardly he was cheering. So now their facing an enemy whose excellent in silent killing and he's using this mist as an advantage to his technique. Unlike those Demon Brothers, he didn't find them all that exciting but with this guy he found himself the excitement he was looking for.

Naruto felt a pulse of chakra erupt from Kakashi, making the mist less thicker so they can see more clearly. His eyes widened as he sensed fear coming from Sasuke. He looks at him at the corner of his eyes and saw him shaking.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi spoke up, getting his attention. "Calm down! I'll protect you with my life. I will not allow my comrades to die." He turns slightly and eye smiles at him, making Sasuke calm down slightly.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Everyone's eyes widened as Zabuza had appeared in the circle, eyes closed and sword ready to strike. He opened his eyes.

"It's over." Zabuza said, causing Kakashi to turn around.

"Watch out!"

When Zabuza was about to strike Tazuna, Naruto used his telekinesis to keep Zabuza in place while Kakashi stabbed him from the back.

Zabuza grunted in pain, making Naruto look at him before he looked down. His eyes widened when saw water leaking and no blood. He quit quickly looks behind Kakashi and saw the real Zabuza behind him.

"Kakashi!" Naruto jumped back, releasing the clone.

Kakashi turns around, just as the fake Zabuza turned to water, just in time to see Zabuza cut him in half.

Zabuza smirked at his accomplishment before his eyes widened in shock as he saw Kakashi turned to water. He saw through his illusion and copied his technique! Hmph, not bad. He suddenly felt the cold steel of a kunai press against his neck.

"Don't move." Kakashi said. "Now it's over!"

"Nice try." Zabuza spoke up calmly.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he felt Zabuza appear behind him.

"But I'm not that easy to fool."

"Another clone!" Sakura exclaimed as it turned to water.

The Demon swordsman swiped his sword in order to cut Kakashi's head clean off. But he dodged it and kicked him in the chin, sending him flying into the lake. Zabuza then dashed off in order to go in for the kill but stopped as he noticed something on the ground.

"Trying to slow me down huh?" Zabuza asked as he stopped running and turns around. "Hmph. Foolish." He jumps and went into the lake.

"Damn it." Naruto swore as everyone else looked shocked.

Kakashi came out of the water. _"This isn't normal water. It's dense, heavy."_ He thought as he looked at it.

"Ha, fool!" Zabuza appeared behind him, doing hand signs. _"Water Prison Jutsu!"_

"No!" Kakashi exclaimed as he turned around and found himself inside a water sphere. Escaping to water, really bad idea.

"Ok, that's it!" Naruto was about to run but stopped and blocked a kick from Zabuza's Water Clone. He narrowed his eyes at it. "So back to this thing huh?" He reached into his pocket. "Hey Sasuke, you listening?"

"Yeah, I'm listening."

"Good, cause I got a plan." Naruto smirked. "A _real_ plan this time."

_"A real plan?"_ Sasuke asked, staring at Naruto.

Kakashi's eyes widen in shock. "What are you doing!? You have to get out of here! Your mission is to protect the Bridge Builder! If you stay and fight he'll-"

**Music: His World (E3 Version) [Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)]**

"And I told you I don't give a damn!" Naruto said. "I do things my way! And that means making sure everyone gets out of this alive, including you Kakashi!" His answer shocked Kakashi to the core. "Hey No-Brow, put this in that Bingo Book of yours and remember this face; my name is Naruto Uzumaki. The future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village! And Squad 7 are the ones who took you down!"

Everyone stared at Naruto with surprised expressions. Sakura felt some sort of confidence well up inside of her, Tazuna had brand new respect for him.

Naruto did a hand-sign. "Now, **Shadow Clone Jutsu!**"

Multiple Naruto appeared and at the Zabuza clone, dog-piling it. The clone then attacked, making the Naruto clones scatter and disappear. The clone heard movement and turned its head before it's eyes widened as it saw a tree, covered in cyan glow, charging at it. It jumped out of its way before it dodged another tree.

"Hey!"

The clone turns around and saw Naruto on his sword. He made a teasing face at it, making it angry as it tried to hit him, but he jumped on his head and did flip. He reached into his book bag and tossed an object in the air.

"Sasuke catch!" Was all he said, before he disappeared in a poof of smoke, revealing it was a clone.

Sasuke looks up and grabs the object. He looks at it and his his eyes widened. _"So that was the plan. Not bad Naruto!"_ He moved his hand just as the object starts to active itself, revealing it to be a large shuriken. **"Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!"**

Sakura smiled in excitement at seeing such a cool looking weapon.

"A shuriken? You wouldn't even touch me with that!" The Water Clone said.

Sasuke jumped in the air and threw the shuriken at the clone, as it stood still. It's eyes widened as the shuriken went past it.

"So you're aiming for the real thing huh?" The real Zabuza asked. "Smart. But not smart enough!" He caught the shuriken in his hand. His eyes widened as he saw another one. "A second shuriken in the shadow of the first? The Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!"

_"The second shuriken is on target! And he can't catch this one!"_ Sakura thought.

As the shuriken got closer and closer, Zabuza jumped over it as it went past him.

"I told you a shuriken can't hit me!" He told them as Sakura had a shocked expression while Sasuke smirked.

The shuriken continued to fly put a poof of smoke appeared and Naruto was in its place, holding a glowing Ring, shocking everyone, except a smirking Sasuke, to the core. Zabuza turns around with a shocked expression.

"WHAT!?"

Naruto grips the Ring tightly as he began to glow yellow. "Take...this!" He turns into a spinning ball and dashed at Zabuza with incredible speed. He landed a direct hit on Zabuza's stomach, making him gasp out in pain as the strange technique pushed him back and made him fly upwards.

Naruto then kicked Zabuza further in the air before he took out the Chaos Emerald.

_**"Chaos Control!"**_ He thought as time stopped. He flies behind Zabuza and used a powerful axe kick on his back, just as time returned to normal, and sent him crashing back to the lake.

**Splash!**

Zabuza crashed into the water, but he used his chakra to make him stand on the service. He glares up at a free falling Naruto, who was smirking in a cocky manner and wagged his finger back and forth. Zabuza was about to throw the shuriken at him but stopped when Kakashi appeared and blocked it with his bare arm, as he glared at him.

**Music Fades**

"Naruto, that was an excellent plan you made." Kakashi said.

"Ha! Damn right it was!" Naruto said, his ego starting to show as he landed to where the others were. "The perfect distraction to get No-Brow off his game! You gotta seriously love the Shadow Clones! And that awesome Gold Ring! I knew that thing's powerful but not that kind of powerful!"

"Alright, you don't have to brag about it." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"It was just a fluke!" Tazuna yelled comically.

_"Call it whatever you want, those two were perfect out there. They communicated without even talking to each other! Though it looked like the two hate each other, they looked like they were a perfect team out there."_ Sakura thought in awe. She then thought back on what Naruto said about that Gold Ring.

What exactly was that? Where did Naruto get it? How did he use it to gain such power boost?!

"None the less, it's excellent. You've matured haven't you?" Kakashi asked.

"Hey! I've always matured!" Naruto exclaimed. "I just don't show it! Now kick this guy's butt so we can drop Tazuna off."

"Believe me..." Kakashi said as he glared at Zabuza, his Sharingan glowing. "I will!"

* * *

**Ending 1: The Shining Road [English Version]**

**The world around us is so magical**

**But now it's been placed under a spell**

The shot of the Hidden Leaf Village is shown at night. However, the sun starts to rise in the distance.

**My love, come with me and together we shall search to find a charm**

**We'll travel to the land of our dreams where forbidden dreams just may come true**

Naruto is sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's mountain head as he stares at the rising sun. The wind starts to blow as it moved his hair to the side. He looks down at his hand, staring at his star charm, a sad look on his face.

He close his eyes and puts the charm on his chest for a moment, not seeing it glowing slightly.

**When we're alone tomorrow, we will sneak away and secretly meet**

**Up on top of a hill, where there are birds everywhere and we can be all alone**

At the same time, a Princess is seen at her castle, staring at the rising sun as well, a sad look on her face. She walks back to her room and picks up her star charm from her bed, placing it on her chest and closing her eyes, not seeing it glow.

**I know someday, I'll hold your hand. While we sit alone in the morning mist**

**And the seal in our way, of our shining road will be broken**

Back in the Leaf Village, a younger Naruto opens his eyes and saw he was in a mist. He walks forward, looking around in confusion.

Unknown to Naruto, the Princess, who got younger also, appeared behind him and was looking around as well. They both stopped walking as they felt each other's presence.

They slowly looked back at each other with surprised expressions. Naruto ended up smiling happily as he ran to her and grabbed her hand, bringing a smile on the Princess's face. The two ran off together, before they disappeared.

**Till the end of time**

Naruto and the Princess, in their older forms, stood back to back, eyes closed and smiles present on their faces. In their hands, were their star charms.

* * *

**Omake: A New Ramen Recipe**

Naruto is seen in Ichiraku Ramen gulping down the rest of the ramen he ordered. He put his bowl down and wiped sighs happily.

"Oh man! I can never get enough of this ramen!" He said happily. "You sure know your stuff Teuchi!"

"Well of course!" Teuchi said happily. "I've been cooking this food for over 30 years! You can never find good ramen like this!" He looks down. "Though, it would be nice if we had a new recipe."

"New recipe?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yeah. I've been going over my head on what ramen recipe I should try and make, but it's just been the same usual stuff I've been serving." Teuchi hung his head low. "I need something _fresh_, something _new_, something the likes of which this village hasn't even tried before! But I can't think of anything!"

Naruto stared at Teuchi as he walked back to the kitchen. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Something fresh and new huh?"

**Ding!**

A lightbulb appeared over Naruto's head. "That's it!" He smiles as he stood up. "Hey Teuchi! I'll be back in a sonic second!" He instantly dashed off and came back. "I'm back!"

Teuchi and Ayame went out and they were confused to see Naruto holding a pan. He sits the pan down and opens it up, showing the two the cooked and delicious smell of chili. They looked inside it to see the chili peppers, some garlic, the meat and beans all mixed in.

"Chili?" Ayame asked.

"What it's for?" Teuchi asked, raising a brow.

"It's your new ramen recipe!" Naruto answered happily.

Teuchi raised his brows in surprise before he smiles in excitement. He took the pot of chili out of Naruto's hands and went right back into the kitchen, laughing in excitement all the while.

While Teuchi was busy doing his thing in the kitchen, Naruto and Ayame were out waiting for him. Naruto had a chili dog in his hand and took ate it whole as he and Ayame glanced at each other in confusion before looking back in the kitchen.

"YES! THIS IS IT!" Teuchi yelled happily. He walks out of the kitchen with his hands behind his back. "Thanks to Naruto bringing his chili, I have came up with an incredible recipe that will be an instant success!"

That made Naruto and Ayame smile.

"Allow me to present, Ichiraku Ramen's brand new special!" Teuchi brought the bowl out from behind his back and put it in front of Naruto. "Spicy Chili Ramen!"

Naruto's eyes shined like stars as he stared at the ramen. The chili was added in the ramen but it was mixed in, causing the noodles themselves to turn red. He instantly dug in.

The moment his tongue tasted the new ramen, Naruto had a flashback of his childhood, from when he first walked into Ichiraku and tasted their ramen dish, making him their regular customers. He even had flashbacks of the many ramen flavors, he tried over the years. And none of them couldn't compare to what he just tasted.

Ayame and Teuchi watched as Naruto dropped his chopsticks, his expression seemed...far away. As though he was having a flashback.

"Naruto?" Ayame asked, waving her hand in front of his face. She looks to her father and shrugged her shoulders, looking confused as him.

"Hey, kid. You awake?" Teuchi snapped his fingers in front of him.

"..." Naruto grabbed the bowl and slurped it all in one go. He sat it down and reached into his pocket. He took out a stack of Gold Rings, sitting them down on the counter before he walks away.

Ayame could only watch in confusion while Teuchi looked at the Gold Rings in surprise before a knowing smirk appears on his face.

"I don't get it dad. Did he like it or not?" Ayame asked. She turns to him and saw he held up three fingers.

"3...2...1…"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ayame flinched in comical shock as she, and pretty much everyone in the village, heard Naruto's loud cheer. They also could hear what sounded like a 'Boom'.

Teuchi nods his head in accomplishment, feeling proud of himself for causing Naruto to have such a reaction to his new dish. He took the sparkling Gold Rings and walks to the kitchen.

"I guess he likes it…" Ayame sweat dropped while chuckling sheepishly.

After that day, Spicy Chili Ramen became the number one best selling ramen dish in Ichiraku, all thanks to one Naruto Uzumaki and his love for chili dogs.


	4. Ultimate 4

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1: Sonic Drive **

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Various pictures of a grinning Naruto appears doing poses based on Sonic the Hedgehog: One is him doing the pose from Sonic Adventure. Another is him doing the Sonic Adventure 2 pose. The third is him doing the Sonic Heroes pose. The fourth is him doing one of many poses from Sonic Channel. The last is him doing the Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) pose.

The scene changed to show a Gold Ring falling and hitting the grassy ground.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appear: One is Sasuke striking a pose, with a serious look on his face. The second is Sakura smiling at the readers. The third is Kakashi standing, holding his book and looking at the readers. The fourth is Iruka with his hands on his hips, smiling at the viewers. The last picture is Hiruzen, smirking slightly.

The scene change to show a yellow blur running out of the village.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The yellow blur reveals itself to be Naruto running through a forest before he jumps off a cliff with a smile on his face as the title appears:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja!**

***Instruments***

The Hidden Leaf Village is shown in all its glory. Naruto is standing on top of his father's head at the Hokage Mountain, looking down at it with a grin on his face. He wipes his thumb across his nose.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today  
The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is walking around with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face. He grins as he runs ahead, jumping from building to building before he runs on one and flips off of it.

**If I don't keep running  
There's no other meaning**

Naruto lands on the roof, fixing his Forehead Protector. He looks ahead, seeing Sasuke and Sakura smile at him. They looked back and saw Kakashi standing on cable from a utility pole. He knees down and waves at his team.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins and gave his sensei a thumbs up, making Kakashi blink before smiled sheepishly.

**Bio-rhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

Naruto is on a branch, leaning his back on the tree. He reaches into his pocket and took out a purple star charm, looking at it with a sad frown.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

A young girl, her upper face shadowed over, appears and she is smiling.

Naruto blinks and walks ahead, while putting his star charm back in his pocket. He jumps off the tree branch and was instantly covered in a blue wind as he starts to fly across the sky.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack  
Surpass everything altogether  
I won't let anyone, or anything get ahead of me**

Squad 7 is fighting off a bunch of Bandits. Naruto is using his Spin Dash as he got through a bunch of larger Bandits, blowing them all away. Sasuke trips one of them and does kicks some of them across the face. Sakura punched one and then grabs his arm. And Kakashi blocks a sword attack from the Leader and kicked him in the stomach.

Naruto grins as he punched the biggest Bandit away, knocking some teeth out.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!  
Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!  
"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar  
That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

A Princess is seen standing on the balcony of her Castle, looking out in the distance. Her face is hidden only showing her mouth. She turns around and heads back inside, showing she's holding a yellow star charm.

A Masked Boy is seen sitting on top of a building. He looks up at the full moon before he stood up and walked away, vanishing into the darkness.

**Throw boredom away  
And start running  
**  
Naruto is holding onto a Ring as it starts to glow brightly. One by one, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Silver the Hedgehog overlaps Naruto place before they disappeared.

He showed a grin as he transformed and was flying through the sky. Naruto then does a Spin Dash as it charges at the screen.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Naruto is arguing with Sasuke about something while Sakura and Kakashi look on. The second is Squad 7 walking through the Village. The third is Naruto trying to take Kakashi's book, but the Joūnin had his hand on his head to keep him from reaching it. The fourth is Naruto doing his Sexy Jutsu at Iruka, who gained a nosebleed and fell backwards. The last picture is Hiruzen and Naruto on the Hokage Monument watching the sunset.

The scene change to show Naruto and Sasuke fist bumping with smirks on their faces.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is a cage with glowing red eyes appearing in the darkness. The second picture is the Princess looking at a photo of her and Naruto together. The third is the Masked Boy, but his back is turned to the readers and he had his mask off.

The scene changes to show Naruto doing some acrobatic tricks in the air before he grins.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

Naruto lands on the ground as the camera zooms away from him, showing his Squad together. He finishes the opening as he give a thumbs up.

The Chaos Emeralds appear in the background.

* * *

**Ultimate 4: The Third Emerald and the Light Speed Shoes. Remembering a Precious Friend.**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto is leaning on a brick wall, arms crossed and a serious look on his face. On the wall were grafitti images of Sonic, Shadow and Silver's heads, along with the Chaos Emeralds.

* * *

Kakashi and Zabuza have clashed with kunai and sword in hand respectively. Zabuza then went in as he tried to roundhouse kick Kakashi only for him to duck it and do a couple of back flips away from him. Zabuza then starts to jump a few feet away from him and was doing hand-seals at a fast pace.

Kakashi, thanks to his Sharingan, began to copy what Zabuza was doing at the same fast pace as he was.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at s hand-seals. He scoffed. They call that fast?

**"Water Style: Water Dragon Missile!"** Both Shinobi shouted.

The Genin and Tazuna saw two of the same water dragons rise from the sea, glaring at each. They gave out a roar and charged at each other. Zabuza's dragon was pushing Kakashi's backwards, proving to it that it's going to win.

However, Kakashi's dragon pushed also letting it know that it's not going to give up. They continued on for what seems like minutes until Kakashi's dragon pushed even more while giving out a mighty roar. But then, both of the dragons just exploded and splashed.

The massive splash made Naruto scream comically as he was lifted in the air. He looks down and saw water torpedo heading towards a tree, before it slammed into it. He heard a yell of pain, which sounded like Zabuza and saw him embedded into the tree by kunai. He also saw Kakashi on top of a tree branch above Zabuza.

"Way to go Sen...huh!?" Naruto gasped along with everyone else as they saw two needles appear and stab Zabuza in the neck.

Kakashi and Naruto turned their heads to where the needles came from and saw a male ninja.

He wore pinstripe outfit which stopped at his knees. Over this, he wore a green haori with white trimmings, and around his waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around his waist twice. He also wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as his kimono and nail polish on his fingernails and toenails in matching blue green colour. His long hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of his hair fell loose framing his face, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends. He wore a hunter-nin mask, which was white with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as a symbol etched in the top.

"You were right. It was his last battle." The young man said as he got everyone's attention.

Naruto flipped in the air and landed on the ground softly. He turns to Zabuza and saw Kakashi already beside Zabuza checking his pulse.

"Well?"

"No vital signs." Kakashi answered Naruto as he glared at the mask man, who bowed to him.

"Thank you. I have been tracking Zabuza for a very long time. Waiting, for this chance to finally take him down."

"Judging by your mask, I can see you're a Tracker-Ninja from the Hidden Mist Village." Kakashi stated.

"Impressive. You're well informed." The Masked Man said.

"Tracker, huh?" Naruto asked as he appeared in front of the others, a dead serious expression on his face. "I heard of you, you guys have a special role right? When a Rogue Ninja like Zabuza, leaves their villages, with so much of the villages secrets, it's the Tracker-Ninjas job to find those Rogue Ninja of their respective villages to hunt and eliminate them."

Sakura stared at Naruto with a surprised expression. "How'd you know that? You weren't even there that day back at the Academy."

Just like that, the serious expression from before dropped as Naruto face-faulted to the ground comically. "Oi! They have things called books ya know! Besides there was a personal reason why I didn't come that day!"

"You are correct." The Masked Man said. "I'm a member of an elite Tracking Unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza."

Kakashi's eyes were narrowed.

"But in any case." Naruto said as he looked up at The Masked Boy. "What the heck man!?" He yelled, getting everyone's attention. "How the hell were you able to do that!? Zabuza is at the same level as Kakashi-sensei, yet you took him down with only two needles! He was our enemy not yours!"

Sakura and Tazuna had comical shocked expressions from what Naruto said while Sasuke just muttered 'moron' under his breath.

"Easy Naruto." Kakashi said as he stood up, walking beside Naruto, hands in his pockets.

"C'mon sensei, this kid took down Zabuza with one blow so what does that make the three of us?" Naruto asked as Sakura looked down in thought. "But then again, this kid..." He looks up at the Masked Boy. "Even though he's our age, he's still strong enough to take down someone like Zabuza." He felt Kakashi rubbed his head.

"That's right. In this world, there are kids, even though younger than you, are stronger than you." Kakashi said. "They're also stronger than me."

That made Sasuke grit his teeth to hear something like that.

Naruto and Kakashi looked back at Zabuza's body and saw the Tracker-Ninja picking the corpse up.

"You're struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains." The Tracker-Nin told them. "There are many secrets in this body. They must not be allowed in the wrong hands. Please excuse me, this is farewell."

"Huh!? Hey wait a sec, who are-" Naruto ran to stop him before the boy disappeared. "Annnnnd, he's gone." He deadpanned with a half lidded expression. He sighed and shook his head. "So, what happens now? Aside from taking the Drunk Builder back to his bridge to finish it."

"Oh, well you guys can stay at my house and rest up!" Tazuna said smiling big. "Think of it as an apology for getting you into this mess."

"Alright, let's get a move on." Kakashi told everyone as he covered his left eye. He took a few steps forward but stopped and fell to the ground, making everyone gasp.

"...Kakashi?" Naruto blinked as he and the others ran to him. "Oh crap, Kakashi!"

* * *

**Later**

The group have entered Tazuna's house. While they entered they met up with Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, who was cooking dinner, and told them about what happened. Naruto and Sasuke took Kakashi to a room. He

It's only been a few minutes, but Kakashi was starting to wake up now. Luckily, Naruto and the others entered and saw Kakashi and Tsunami.

"Bout time you woke up Sleeping Beauty." Naruto smirked as he and the others sat down around him. "Next time try and take it easy on using that Sharingan thing."

"He's right sensei. Your Sharingan is amazing but if you put much strain on it then this will happen." Sakura agreed.

"Sorry." Kakashi groaned.

"Something is definitely up though. About that Tracker Guy." Naruto said, back in his serious voice, getting everyone's attention.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Tracker-Ninja are suppose to dispose of a Rogue Ninja corpse completely. If the body holds that many secrets of the village, then they're obliterated on the spot, via burned to a crisp or eaten by an animal." Naruto explained. "But that guy...he didn't do it. He just took Zabuza's body and ran off somewhere."

"Naruto's correct." Kakashi said. "Think back on the weapons he used for the take down. Do you remember it?"

"Throwing Needles." Sasuke's eyes widened. "No way..."

"Exactly." Kakashi nodded. "None of it adds up."

"What are you all yammering about?" Tazuna asked. "You demolished that assassin."

"Here's the truth, Zabuza is still alive..." Kakashi answered.

Sakura and Tazuna screamed with comical shocked expressions and Naruto had a comical deadpanned expression. Tsunami, a blue haired young woman, gasped.

"Yup. Called it." Naruto stated, leaning back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

"But Kakashi, you said his heart stopped, you checked it yourself!" Sakura exclaimed.

"His heart did stopped, in a temporary state." Kakashi said, thinking back from earlier. "The weapons that Tracker used are called Senbon. They can pierce deeply but rarely kill once they hit a vital organ."

"In short, our little Tracker wasn't trying to kill Zabuza but save him from Kakashi-sensei when he tried to deal the final blow by using the Senbon to stab him in the neck and take him away. And now we got a powerful assassin and his sidekick to deal with." Naruto said in annoyance. Honestly, he didn't want hear any of that crap anymore add to the fact that he was about to fall asleep.

However an excited grin formed on his face as he stood up. "Oh yeah! Not only are dealing with Zabuza but the Tracker guy too! Time for some major butt-kicking!" He did a kick after he said that. "Alright then! Sasuke! Sakura! It's time to prepare ourselves for our fight! Let's get some training done!"

**BONK!**

"Ow! What the hedgehog!?" Naruto yelled as he grabbed his head. "The heck was that for Sakura!?"

"That's for being an idiot! Look at Kakashi-sensei! Do you honestly think he can give us some last minute training to make us stronger to fight Zabuza?" Sakura asked.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Um, yeah! What, you think that just because he's like this means he's not gonna train us?"

"Naruto, sensei could barely defeat him even with his Sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this!" Sakura exclaimed.

_**"Cha! Is this idiot trying to get us killed!?"**_ Inner Sakura asked.

"Sakura," Kakashi spoke up. "Why do you think I was able to stop Zabuza? Because you all helped me. You've grown." He turns to Naruto. "Naruto."

"Yeah?"

Kakashi eye smiled at him. "You've grown the most."

"Heh!" Naruto grinned. "Just watch, things are gonna get better, believe it!"

"I don't believe it! And nothing's gonna get better!"

Everyone turned to the voice and saw a little at the door. He wore a green overalls with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandals. He also wore a blue and white striped hat under the brim of his eyes.

"Who's the kid?" Naruto asked as Tazuna sat on his knees with his arms out.

"Inari, where've you been?"

"Grandpa!" Inari ran to him and hugged him.

"Inari that was very rude!" Tsunami scolded him. "These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him home safely!"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Tazuna exclaimed, rubbing his grandson's head. "I'm rude to them as well!"

"No kidding." Naruto muttered as Inari looked at them and turned to his mother.

"Mom don't you see these people are gonna die! Gato and his men are gonna come back and kill them!" Inari exclaimed.

"Say what!?" Naruto glared at him. "Listen and listen good kid, you're talking to Naruto Uzumaki, the Hidden Leaf-no wait, the WORLD'S Ultimate Ninja and the future Hokage of the Leaf Village!" He pointed at himself and grinned.

_"Ultimate Ninja?"_ Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi all deadpanned at Naruto's self-proclaimed title, which he ignored.

"The hell?" Tazuna asked, staring at Naruto as if he was dumb.

"Ain't no way some thug is no match for a hero."

"There's no such thing as a hero." Inari said. "You're just full of stupid ideas!"

"Stupid ideas-that it's I'm gonna-!" Naruto stops as he sensed the presence of two emeralds nearby. "Huh...?"

"If you want to stay alive, you should head back where you belong." Inari finished as he left the room, completely ignoring his grandfather, who was calling out to him.

Naruto still remained where he was as he stared off into space.

"Naruto?" Sakura shook him. Getting no response, she shook him again. "Naruto!"

"Huh?" Naruto turned his head to Sakura. "What is it?"

"You were staring off into space. Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Oh yeah! Of course!" Naruto said. "Hey listen I'm gonna head out real quick I'll be back soon." He said as he left the room. He could hear noises upstairs and went to go check.

As he got closer to where the noises were coming from, he could hear that it was sobbing noises. He peeked into the room and saw Inari, his back facing him, holding something in his house.

"Daddy!"

Naruto looked down at the floor as he silently left the house, his hair shadowing his eyes.

* * *

Once he left the house, Naruto took out two Chaos Emeralds. The emerald in his left hand is green, the one he found at the day he took the Bell Test, while the one on the right is yellow, which he found a few days later on top of the Hokage Mountain.

Naruto looked down at the emeralds and saw they were glowing brighter and brighter as he went to the same direction. The Ultimate Ninja stops as he saw his reflection in the water, making him realize he was standing in front of a lake.

He looks down in the lake and saw something glowing purple and red.

"Huh?" Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the glowing lights were coming _up_ to the surface. Both red and purple Chaos Emeralds came out of the lake glowing brightly before they floated towards him.

"Whoa..." Naruto muttered as he saw both emeralds floating in front of him, spinning around his body before they went inside him, along with the emeralds he had in his hands. He gasped as he started to see another vision.

The vision, this time, shows a cave, not too far from where's he at, and apparently there's something inside it as there's a glowing rainbow aura around it.

Once the vision ended, Naruto shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "Oh man, what a rush." He stopped and turned to the direction of the cave. "Time to see what this thing is."

He took off in a blur and in the next moment he arrived at the cave. Once he entered the cave, his eyes widened in awe as he saw floating attachments, that looks like they belong to the heel of his sneakers, in front of him surrounded by a rainbow aura. One closer look at them and he saw how that were some glowing green lines on them.

"Whoa...what are those?" Naruto asked as he walked in front of the heels.

However, once his foot stepped into the rainbow aura, it erupted, causing Naruto to cover his eyes. When he opened them, his eyes widened as he saw the heels were gone. He looked around before he looked behind his sneakers and he gasped as they were now attached to them.

_"You've found the Light Speed Shoes! Now you can perform the Light Speed Dash! The Light Speed Dash lets you race towards Rings at Light Speed. As long as there's a trail of Rings you can go just about anywhere!"_

A feminine voice said to Naruto, making him blink and look around. "Hey! Hey who said that!?" He began to get scared thinking that it was a ghost. He turns to the entrance of the cave and saw a trail of Golden Rings right in front of him.

Naruto blinked. What the-? Where the hell did they come from?! He stares at them as he recalled what the voice said. The Light Speed Dash let's him race towards Rings at Light Speed. "Hmm..." He looks down at his new upgraded sneakers. "Light Speed Dash huh." A grin appears on his face as he approached the Rings.

When he did, he tried out his new technique and he found himself dashing as he collected all the Rings not seeing that he was leaving after-images of himself. He found himself back in front of the lake.

"AWESOME!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked at the Light Speed Shoes again. He then raced back to the house.

Unknown to Naruto, he was being watched from a far by someone in the shadows.

* * *

**Next Day**

Today is a new day.

The three Genin found themselves standing in a forest in front of their sensei. Kakashi, still not being able to stand on his own, supported himself with a set of wooden crutches.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"We're gonna do a little training exercise today, Sasuke." Kakashi replied.

"So what's this training we're gonna be doing, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi's eye curled up in a smile. "Well, I thought we'd do something fun today." He threw a hand out behind him to the trees, "We're going to do a little tree climbing."

The Genin's expressions were a bit...underwhelming, to say the least.

"Say what now?" Naruto asked.

"Could…you repeat that?" Sakura deadpanned, unsure if she'd heard Kakashi-sensei right. Did he seriously want them to climb trees?

"How is tree climbing training?" Naruto asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone there. "In fact with my speed I can run up them all day if I wanted to! Heck I could even use my _telekinesis_ to _fly_ up there."

"Oh!" Kakashi sounded as if he'd remembered just why it was training, as if they believed that. "Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention, no hands allowed." He stared at Naruto. "Same with your telekinesis and speed Naruto."

"Uh…No hands? No telekinesis? NO SPEED!?" Naruto asked with an outraged expression on his face. "Then how the hell are we supposed to climb the tree?"

The other two nodded with his assessment.

"Oh no wait a sec..." Naruto said in realization.

"That's right. You use chakra. Shinobi generally regard the feet as the hardest place to channel chakra, even more so since the feet are usually covered by sandals. Thus it is that much harder because you have to force chakra through the rubber. Of course, it varies from person to person, but I guarantee that all three of you will fall at least once."

The masked Jōnin turned to the tree behind him and proceeded to walk straight at it. When he got to it, Kakashi just kept walking, straight up at a 90-degree angle. He finally reached the lowest branch, which hang high over their heads.

The teens stared at him, their mouths opened.

"Trust me," He called down to them. "This isn't as easy as I make it look. On the plus side though, when you're done with this and get all the way to the top, your chakra control will be much better and you'll be that much stronger!"

Then he dropped three kunai down to the shinobi members of the group and they got to work.

"Use those kunai to mark your progress, I don't expect each of you to reach the treetop on the first try, also I would recommend a running start to gain some momentum."

"No problem! This should be a piece of cake!" Naruto grinned, twirling the kunai on his finger.

"Less talk, more action Naruto." Kakashi told his student.

Naruto nodded and all three formed the Ram hand seal, the ground around their feet glowing blue from the slightly flaring chakra.

"Let's do it to it!" Naruto grinned

The Genin took off running towards their respective trees. Sasuke made it only a few steps before the amount of chakra he was using blew him off the tree with a small explosion of wood, Naruto tried to run up but he fell, while Sakura made it to the very top.

"What the hell!? How did Sakura make it to the top while we got blown away!?" Naruto asked in comical shock and anger as the girl stuck her tongue out playfully.

Kakashi cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"I can explain that Naruto, when you put too much chakra the surface's own energy will repel you off, too little and you'll never stick. The reason Sakura was able to go so far is simple, females tend to have small chakra reserves which in turn means their chakra control is enormous." Kakashi explained.

"...that is so sexist." Naruto deadpanned, before he realized something. _"Crap! I was so busy training my other powers, I didn't even bother to train my chakra! Shit!"_

"You and Sasuke as males tend to normally have high chakra reserves which means average to below average control, especially you Naruto seeing how you have large chakra reserves than all of us. This is the main reason why most of the best Genjutsu specialists and Medic-nins tend to be female." Kakashi eye smiles at them. "If I recall there was a certain someone who said he wanted to be Hokage one day and is a self-proclaimed Ultimate Ninja, seems like Sakura might have a chance to have both those titles, don't you think?"

Naruto grit his teeth comically as a large vein appeared on his head. There is no way in hell someone is gonna take the title of Ultimate Ninja! That's his as he came up with it first! Especially his Hokage position.

"As for the great Uchiha Clan, they might not be so great after." Kakashi said to Sasuke as he huffed.

Naruto and Sasuke then turned to each other, eyes narrowed.

_"Hmm...seems like they're motivated."_ Kakashi thought.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Secret Hideout**

In a hidden base up in the treetops of a forest in Wave Zabuza was resting his body, his faithful tool Haku watching over him and trying to speed up his recovery.

"Haku, you have all the finesse of a butcher. Did you have to hit my neck?"

"Zabuza, I didn't want to scar your body besides the neck was easier to target during the chaos of your battle." Haku said with an innocent smile.

"You're a sadistic one that's for sure." Zabuza mumbled getting a giggle from his tool. A voice from the doorway drew their attention.

"It seems ninja from Wave are overrated it seems, you got some nerve showing your face around here after taking a beating like that." Gato, a small pudgy dwarf of a man stood there in his pressed suit with two samurai bodyguards flanking him.

"You can't even clean up for your miserable subordinates, "the demon" yeah right!"

Zabuza kept quiet though he palmed a kunai under the blanket covering him knowing he would have no problem taking the dwarf's arm off if he so much as even thought about touching him.

Both Gato's bodyguards reached for their swords only for Gato to motion for them to stop.

"Hold it you two, so what Zabuza? Got nothing to say for yourself? No last words?" Slowly Gato reached for Zabuza's neck inching closer and closer, Zabuza gripped the kunai in his hand and was about to swing before Haku grabbed Gato's arm and squeezed hard breaking the pudgy man's arm.

"AHHHH!" Gato screams in pain as he fell on his knees. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

"You will not touch Zabuza." The look in Haku's eyes were as a pure cold-hearted murderer. It even made Gato shiver in fear just looking at them.

The businessman screams more as he felt the hand gripping him tight before he struggled to get away. By doing so, two emeralds dropped out from his jacket pocket, one blue and the other turquoise.

Gato's bodyguards both began to draw their swords but in an instance their swords were in Haku's hands and the blades against their throats drawing a small line of blood.

"You don't want to do that...not when I'm angry."

'This kid...is some kind of monster!' Gato and his guards thought before moving away from Zabuza and Haku.

Gato quickly went to the emeralds and used his good hand to put them back where they belong. "Zabuza, there had better not be anymore mistakes! Understood?! If you fail again don't even think you can come back here!"

All three left and for a minute no spoke.

"Haku...there was no need for you..."

"I know...but it's too soon to finish him off. If we cause a commotion here we'll have to run again. And besides, he doesn't deserve to touch you."

Zabuza looked at the teen for a moment before snorting, trying to go to sleep.

* * *

**The Forest: Land of Waves**

"Oh come on!" Naruto roared as he kicked the tree in anger. "I almost had it that time!"

Sasuke couldn't understand it, he was an Uchiha, not only that he was the rookie of the year...so why was tree walking so damn hard for him?! He glared at the tree which he was sure was glaring back at him for all the foot shaped holes and slash marks that were now in it. Sakura was allowed to go in to eat while both he and Naruto weren't allowed until they made it to at least where Sakura had gotten.

The two of them then glared at each other before they dashed off at their trees again. They both reached their mark with Naruto being a bit higher than Sasuke.

"Come on...almost..." Naruto whispered before he sighed and sat down. "Thank you Sakura..."

"Hey Naruto."

Naruto turned to Sasuke as the Uchiha Heir kept looking away from him and he had some red dusting his cheeks, which made Naruto raise an eyebrow at him.

"Do...do you...um...do you think..."

Naruto blinked before he went "oh". A cheeky grin appeared on his face. "Oh I get it. You want some help with this thing and you want to know what Sakura told me?"

Sasuke grumbled but nodded.

"Hmmm..." Naruto hummed. "Not telling ya."

Sasuke glared at him comically while Naruto still had that cheeky Sonic grin.

"But since we're teammates and all, I guess I can help." Naruto instantly appeared and wrapped his arm around Sasuke's neck, much to his annoyance. "All right listen up!"

* * *

**Next Day**

Naruto was snoring softly. He groaned when he felt the sun hitting his face, making him cover his eyes with his hand. He looked around and saw he was in the forest. What the hell? When did...

"Oh yeah..." He closed his eyes as he remembered.

After finishing training yesterday, both him and Sasuke were even more fired up to compete each other. As they made it to the house, they ate so much food last night that they puked it out. It was also then that they learned what happened to Inari to make him become...that.

Apparently, his father, or more accurately his step-father, was a well-known hero in the Land of Waves. He had done some many things for their village that everyone loved and respect him. However, when Gato showed up, he caught Inari's father and beat him in submission. Gato even got everyone in the village together to witness the execution of their Hero and Inari had a front row seat. Since then, the village and Inari hadn't been the same again.

So Naruto made a vow. He left the house and swore to everyone that he would make the kid believe that Heroes exist.

"Man...go away sun." Naruto muttered before he heard chirping from birds. He then felt a hand grab him.

"Hey. Wake up."

Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes and what he saw made him blink. He saw a beautiful woman. She has long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes. She wore pink japanese clothes.

Both were staring at each other for a few minutes before Naruto stood up.

"Hey." He waved to her. He then began to blush a little. "Er, I mean what're you doing here?"

"I was gathering herbs." The woman said.

"Hm?"

Later, Naruto decided to help the woman gather some herbs.

"Whew." Naruto sat down on the grass. "You sure do gather herbs huh?"

"Of course. I guess you could say it helps calm my mind." The woman said. "But I was surprised when I saw you sleeping out here."

Naruto chuckled. "That's cause I was training!"

"Hm? Training? You're a ninja?"

"I'm not just any ninja!" Naruto grinned as he pointed at himself. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki the World's Ultimate Ninja!"

"Well it's nice to meet you Naruto, I'm Haku." The woman blinked. "Also, Ultimate Ninja...?"

"Yup! And last night I was training on this stupid tree-walking exercise my Sensei had me do." Naruto scratched his head and closed one eye. "I thought it would be easy but I guess I was wrong. All because of this stupid chakra of mine. Guess I still have some work to do."

"Why do you want to train so much?" The woman asked.

"I..." Naruto twitched as his expression slowly turned serious. "I want to get stronger. So that way I can become Hokage of the Leaf Village, so that way everyone can respect me." He then grins to her. "And I want to prove this stupid kid a lesson. And for..." His smile vanished as he looked away. "Another reason..."

The woman stared at him before she looked down at his hands and saw he was holding what looked liked a purple star charm.

"Does your other reason have something to do with that star charm?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked down and saw he was indeed holding onto his star charm. He was shaking as memories began to flash in his head.

"Did it belong to someone precious to you?"

"..." Naruto's lips trembled as an image of a girl appeared. Oh how he wish to see her face.

_"Let's play Naruto!" _Her happy face.

_"I swear, you're so naive."_ Her stern face.

_"Come back here and face your punishment!"_ Her comical angry face.

_"I promise...we'll be bestest friends forever."_ Her gentle smile.

Naruto put the charm on his chest and kneeled over slightly as though he was in pain. It just...hurts. It hurts so much whenever he was thinking about her. His heart would always be in pain every time he thought about that day.

The day he failed to keep his promise to her. The day...she was taken from him.

The woman watched Naruto as he was breathing heavily while keeping the charm close to his chest. That charm. It meant a lot to him, she could tell. Whoever it was that gave it to him...something must've happened to them.

"When a person has something precious they want to protect, only then can they become stronger. The person who gave you that, are they precious to you?"

"Of course she is!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood up, glaring down at the woman. "She means everything to me! She was...the first person to ever acknowledge me...the first person I've ever played and had fun with! To accept me for who I am! She's my...my..." He looks down. "My best friend..."

"And what happened to her?"

"...she was..." Her crying face appeared in his mind as half her body was vanishing. "I don't really know how to explain it." Naruto admitted sadly before a determined expression appeared on his face. "But I do know she's out there somewhere. She's waiting for me! That's why...I have to get stronger so that way when I find her... I'll be able to keep my promise."

"I see." The woman smiled as she stood up. "That's good. I hope you find her someday. Having precious people in your life and meeting new ones can always make someone grow stronger. It's not just raw power itself. It's the bond you form with people, that's where true strength lies."

Naruto's eyes widened at the wisdom the woman spoke. He looks at his charm and a small smile appeared on his face. He then grinned at the woman.

"Right I hear ya! But...what about you lady?"

The woman smiled. "I too have someone precious to me. I want to protect him and help him make his dream come true." She stood up. "Goodbye. I hope we meet soon." She walked away before she stopped. "Oh, by the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto's eyes popped out of his sockets and his jaw dropped as he the boy. _"THAT'S A DUDE!? I JUST SAID ALL THAT STUFF TO A GUY!?"_ He yelled inwardly. "No way! No way! No way! What the heck is going on with the world!? I want a do-over! A DO-OVER I SAY! I mean-?!"

**Smack!**

"Ow!" Naruto looked up and saw Sasuke was there. "The hell was that for?! You want to pick a fight?!"

"Did you forget about breakfast?" Sasuke asked. "You're such a loser."

Naruto stared at him before he huffed and turned away but gave him a smirked which made Sasuke raise an eyebrow at him.

* * *

**Later**

"Naruto!" Sakura called out as she and Kakashi were in the forest, looking for him. "Knowing Naruto he could be anywhere. And Sasuke hasn't come back. I wonder where they are."

"HERE!" A kunai sailed to them as it landed in front of them. They looked up and saw Naruto was relaxing on tree branch on a very tall tree. "Ha! How'd ya like me now Sensei? I did it with chakra!"

"Whoa..." An amazed Sakura whispered as Kakashi starred in silent surprise.

"Check it out y'all!" Naruto stood up and fell backwards, making Kakashi's eye widen while Sakura screamed. "Ha! Got ya!" He used his chakra to stick to the tree branch as he stood upside down.

"You idiot! You really worried us!" Sakura yelled at him.

"Whatever! This is the power of the Ultimate Ninja! Hahahahaha!" Naruto laughed in victory before he began to feel air. "EH!?" He then fell down.

"Uh oh." Kakashi's eye widened.

"You just had to do it didn't you show off?!" Sakura shouted comically.

"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Naruto wailed his arms before he realized something. He had telekinesis now. "Oh wait-" He stopped when he felt someone grab his ankle, stopping his fall.

"Ultimate Ninja? More like an Ultimate Loser." Sasuke stated

"SHUT UP! You're just jealous I thought of the title before you!" Naruto exclaimed as he glared at Sasuke comically.

Kakashi eye-smiled at the two while Sakura was in fan girl mode.

* * *

**Afterwards**

It was now dark outside as Kakashi and Sakura were at Tazuna's house, all of them waiting for Naruto and Sasuke to return.

The door opened, revealing the two as Naruto grinned.

"Heh! We made it to the top!" He said.

"Good." Kakashi nodded. "Starting tomorrow, you two will be Tazuna's bodyguards."

"Awesome!" Naruto said before he fell back, dragging Sasuke along with him, as everyone, except Inari, laughed at them.

Later, Naruto and Sasuke got up to the table eating dinner with everyone. Naruto was ignoring what everyone was saying as he was more focused on the boy he talked to earlier. What heck was that even about? Who was that guy anyway? And why did he feel familiar to him?

"...but why?"

Naruto blinked as he heard the soft whisper. He turns to Inari. "Why what?" He asked as the kid slammed his hands on the table.

"All this stupid training is just a waste of time!" Inari exclaimed. "Gato's got a whole army and he will destroy you!"

His outburst caused everyone to stare at him.

"These cool things you say, they don't mean anything!" Inari continued. "No matter what you do, the strong always wins and the weak perish!"

Naruto scoffed. "Oh please kid, you're not even a ninja so you have zero idea on how we do things."

"Why don't you shut up?! Just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country! You're always laughing and goofing around, you don't know what it's like to suffer and being treated like dirt! You probably haven't lost someone important to you!" Inari shouted at him.

**Slam!**

Everyone gave startled gasps as Naruto appeared in front of Inari and gripped him by his collar as he slammed him into the wall behind them, making cracks appear. Naruto himself had his eyes shadowed over.

"Let me tell you something you little punk." He spoke in a cold dark tone, that made his Squad's eyes widen in surprise at hearing such a tone coming from him. "There are people all over the world who are suffering just as much you, if not worst, and they've lost people important to them as well." Memories of that day flashed in his mind. "Someone very important to me disappeared right in front of my eyes and I don't know why. I believe that someone or something took her away, and I've been trying to search for her every god damn day. I even had to sneak out of my village multiple times to go and search for her myself before the ninja there had to drag me back and tie me down on my damn bed!"

That made Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise while Kakashi's eye was narrowed.

_"So those rumors were true."_

What he's talking about is that there were rumors about Naruto sneaking out of the village, sometimes during day while in the middle of night. They say that he was planning on leaving for good while others say that he was looking for someone.

"I swore that once I became a ninja I would go out and find her." Naruto continued. "Before you even say she might be dead, she isn't! I know that deep down in my heart she's alive because I have this!" Naruto dug into his pocket and took out his star charm. "This was the first gift I ever received from anyone in my village. She made this for me and I made something similar to it for her. She said that these charms would lead us back together again if we ever got separated and I believe her! Whenever I hold this in my hand I can feel her presence. It's faint but it's prove she's out there somewhere and she's waiting for me to come find her!"

Naruto still had his head lowered. "Unlike you, who's nothing but a whiner, I'm still fighting. Fighting to reach my dream and to find her! I don't know your father but he was a hero in this whole country. If he was still alive right now, he would still be fighting Gato." He was shaking now as he grit his teeth. "But instead of doing that, you're just sitting here whining and complaining like some sorry little victim! As far as I can tell..."

Naruto now raised his head and glared at Inari darkly.

"You're nothing but a coward! And your father would be disappointed that you're just crying your eyes out and not fighting to take back your home!"

That made Inari's eyes widen and tears to gather as Naruto released him.

"Naruto!" Sakura stood up, glaring at Naruto. "That's going way too-"

"Stay out of this Sakura." Naruto said darkly as he glared at her before he turned and left the room, slamming the door hard.

Sakura flinched from the tone and the glare she received from him. It's been a long time since she's seen that look and heard that tone from Naruto during Academy days.

To be honest, she hoped that she would never meet _that_ version of Naruto again, because she was afraid of him. And she has _never_ been afraid of Naruto before. But that friend of his that he was talking about...now that she thought about it, she remembered seeing a girl talking to Naruto after school was over and the two would leave together, she even came to the Academy during class at point. She hadn't seen her in a while and that was before Naruto's sudden behavior change.

"Naruto..."

Sasuke was in the same boat. That explains why Naruto has been quiet on some of those days back at the Academy and more violent. There were also times when Naruto hasn't even been to the Academy all day. He left the village to go and search for this friend of his. He wouldn't lie, he would do the same thing if it meant finding..._him_ of all people.

But Sasuke knew he wasn't strong enough back then. Even today he's not strong enough to fight him yet. He also had no clue or the whereabouts of his location.

Kakashi watched his student leave the room as a sigh escaped his lips. He then turns to Inari, who was sobbing on the floor.

* * *

Naruto was sitting up on the roof as he sighed. Maybe he did went too far with calling Inari a coward and saying his father was disappointed in him. But the stupid kid had to understand that the world isn't all black and white. There are people out there who are suffering more than him.

"That's how life works. We gotta suffer at some point and we have to learn how to overcome it." Naruto took out his Charm and looked up at the moon for a moment, before he closed his eyes. "Am I right...Blaze?"

**Ending 1: The Shining Road [English Version]**

***Instruments***

As his eyes were closed he didn't see the charm glowing a faint purple.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

Inside a beautiful looking castle, a young girl of 13 years, is seen sitting outside her window as she looks down at her Kingdom, seeing a festival happening as fireworks were lighting the sky. She sighed to herself as she turned and was about to walk away.

_"Am I right...Blaze?"_

But stopped as a gasp escaped her lips. Oh my gosh, she felt it.

It was faint but she felt, no, she _heard_ him calling out to her in a faint whisper. She takes out a yellow star charm as she puts it close to her chest. She looks up at the full moon.

"Naruto..." She didn't notice her charm was glowing slightly.

* * *

**The world around us is so magical**

**But now it's been placed under a spell**

The shot of the Hidden Leaf Village is shown at night. However, the sun starts to rise in the distance.

**My love, come with me and together we shall search to find a charm**

**We'll travel to the land of our dreams where forbidden dreams just may come true**

Naruto is sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's mountain head as he stares at the rising sun. The wind starts to blow as it moved his hair to the side. He looks down at his hand, staring at his star charm, a sad look on his face.

He close his eyes and puts the charm on his chest for a moment, not seeing it glowing slightly.

**When we're alone tomorrow, we will sneak away and secretly meet**

**Up on top of a hill, where there are birds everywhere and we can be all alone**

At the same time, a Princess is seen at her castle, staring at the rising sun as well, a sad look on her face. She walks back to her room and picks up her star charm from her bed, placing it on her chest and closing her eyes, not seeing it glow.

**I know someday, I'll hold your hand. While we sit alone in the morning mist**

**And the seal in our way, of our shining road will be broken**

Back in the Leaf Village, a younger Naruto opens his eyes and saw he was in a mist. He walks forward, looking around in confusion.

Unknown to Naruto, the Princess, who got younger also, appeared behind him and was looking around as well. They both stopped walking as they felt each other's presence.

They slowly looked back at each other with surprised expressions. Naruto ended up smiling happily as he ran to her and grabbed her hand, bringing a smile on the Princess's face. The two ran off together, before they disappeared.

**Till the end of time**

Naruto and the Princess, in their older forms, stood back to back, eyes closed and smiles present on their faces. In their hands, were their star charms.

* * *

**Omake: Hunt for the Gold Rings**

"Where they at?" Naruto said as he walked around the forest area in the village. It's been an hour since he's found those Gold Rings floating around and he's been searching for them since.

"Come on man! I found 50 of them! I know there's more of them around here." He said to himself.

"Hey Boss!" Konohamaru called, making Naruto turn to him. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for some Rings." Naruto replied as the young boy blinked.

"Rings?" Konohamaru asked.

"They look like this." Naruto took a Gold Ring and showed it to him.

Seeing the Gold Ring made Konohamaru gasp. "WAH! I know where that is!"

Naruto's eyes widened in as he grabbed Konohamaru by the shoulders and shook him, smiling happily. "You have?! Where?! Where they at?!"

"Come on, I'll show you."

Naruto and Konohamaru stood in front of a dango store.

"In here?"

"Yeah, there was a woman with purple hair in a trench coat, was wearing them on her wrist. She's still in there."

Naruto raised a brow before he shrugged his shoulders.

Konohamaru watched as Naruto entered the dango store. All was silent for a moment but then crashing noises were heard. Konohamaru screamed comically as Naruto got sent flying out of the store and hit a house as Gold Rings came out of him.

"Boss?! What happened?!" Konohamaru went stiff as he sense evil intentions behind him. He looks back and saw the purple haired woman he was talking about come out of the store. He noticed that food stains were on her clothes.

A purple aura covered her being and a sweet smile appeared on her face. She cracked her knuckles as she slowly walked to Naruto.

"Wait! Hold up! I didn't to do it on purpose! There was a banana peel, I swear!" Naruto pleaded to the woman. He turns to Konohamaru in annoyance. "And Konohamaru, I was _not_ talking about those type of rings!"

Naruto dodged multiple suriken from the woman before he was covered in a cyan aura and flew off. "YOU OWE ME 50 OF THOSE RINGS KONOHAMARU!"

"HEY! GET BACK HERE YA BRAT!" The purple haired woman yelled as she chased after Naruto.

"Um…ok?" Konohamaru said in confusion. He was about to walk before he noticed something on a roof. He saw floating Gold Rings there. He blinks as he stares at them with wide eyes. "Huh. So those are the Rings he was talking about." He laughs sheepishly and rubs his head. "Whoops." 


	5. Ultimate 5

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1: Sonic Drive**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Various pictures of a grinning Naruto appears doing poses based on Sonic the Hedgehog: One is him doing the pose from Sonic Adventure. Another is him doing the Sonic Adventure 2 pose. The third is him doing the Sonic Heroes pose. The fourth is him doing one of many poses from Sonic Channel. The last is him doing the Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) pose.

The scene changed to show a Gold Ring falling and hitting the grassy ground.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appear: One is Sasuke striking a pose, with a serious look on his face. The second is Sakura smiling at the readers. The third is Kakashi standing, holding his book and looking at the readers. The fourth is Iruka with his hands on his hips, smiling at the viewers. The last picture is Hiruzen, smirking slightly.

The scene change to show a yellow blur running out of the village.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The yellow blur reveals itself to be Naruto running through a forest before he jumps off a cliff with a smile on his face as the title appears:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja!**

***Instruments***

The Hidden Leaf Village is shown in all its glory. Naruto is standing on top of his father's head at the Hokage Mountain, looking down at it with a grin on his face. He wipes his thumb across his nose.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today  
The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is walking around with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his face. He grins as he runs ahead, jumping from building to building before he runs on one and flips off of it.

**If I don't keep running  
There's no other meaning**

Naruto lands on the roof, fixing his Forehead Protector. He looks ahead, seeing Sasuke and Sakura smile at him. They looked back and saw Kakashi standing on cable from a utility pole. He knees down and waves at his team.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins and gave his sensei a thumbs up, making Kakashi blink before smiled sheepishly.

**Bio-rhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

Naruto is on a branch, leaning his back on the tree. He reaches into his pocket and took out a purple star charm, looking at it with a sad frown.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines  
The wind envelops me**

A young Blaze appears, smiling at him, before she disappears.

Naruto blinks and walks ahead, while putting his star charm back in his pocket. He jumps off the tree branch and was instantly covered in a blue wind as he starts to fly across the sky.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack  
Surpass everything altogether  
I won't let anyone, or anything get ahead of me**

Squad 7 is fighting off a bunch of Bandits. Naruto is using his Spin Dash as he got through a bunch of larger Bandits, blowing them all away. Sasuke trips one of them and does kicks some of them across the face. Sakura punched one and then grabs his arm. And Kakashi blocks a sword attack from the Leader and kicked him in the stomach.

Naruto grins as he punched the biggest Bandit away, knocking some teeth out.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!  
Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!  
"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar  
That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

Princess Blaze is seen standing on the balcony of her castle, looking out in the distance. Her face is hidden only showing her mouth. She turns around and heads back inside, showing she's holding a yellow star charm.

A Masked Boy is seen sitting on top of a building. He looks up at the full moon before he stood up and walked away, vanishing into the darkness.

**Throw boredom away  
And start running  
**  
Naruto is holding onto a Ring as it starts to glow brightly. One by one, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Silver the Hedgehog overlaps Naruto place before they disappeared.

He showed a grin as he transformed and was flying through the sky. Naruto then does a Spin Dash as it charges at the screen.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Naruto is arguing with Sasuke about something while Sakura and Kakashi look on. The second is Squad 7 walking through the Village. The third is Naruto trying to take Kakashi's book, but the Joūnin had his hand on his head to keep him from reaching it. The fourth is Naruto doing his Sexy Jutsu at Iruka, who gained a nosebleed and fell backwards. The last picture is Hiruzen and Naruto on the Hokage Monument watching the sunset.

The scene change to show Naruto and Sasuke fist bumping with smirks on their faces.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is a cage with glowing red eyes appearing in the darkness. The second picture is Blaze looking at a photo of her and Naruto together. The third is the Masked Boy, but his back is turned to the readers and he had his mask off.

The scene changes to show Naruto doing some acrobatic tricks in the air before he grins.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

Naruto lands on the ground as the camera zooms away from him, showing his Squad together. He finishes the opening as he give a thumbs up.

The Chaos Emeralds appear in the background.

* * *

**Ultimate 5: Battle on the Bridge! The Nine-Tails Power and a Tragic Past**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto and Haku are standing back to back, looking at the reader's while Zabuza is in the background, his sword positioned in between them.l. He was surrounded by a red chakra as it took form of a fox's head.

* * *

The sun has begun to rise as it started to shine on a castle. Inside one of the castle's bedrooms, sleeps the Princess, a blanket covering her whole body. The sun had fully risen in the sky as it beamed inside her bedroom.

Her bedroom doors opens up as one of the castle's butlers came in.

"Your Highness, it is time to get up." The butler said as the girl groans in annoyance. "Your Highness." The butler's tone turned stern.

"It isn't that." The Princess said in annoyance. "How many times have I told you not to call me that Michael?"

"Exactly a dozen times." Michael gave a smile. "But you are the Princess and as such must be treated as so. We've been through this many times now, Princess Blaze?"

Blaze sat there and sighed to herself once more. "Of course." She removes the blanket as she yawns, while covering her mouth and revealing her appearance.

Long waist-length lilac colored hair with dark purple tips, a small gem on her forehead and beautiful golden eyes.

She looks up at her butler Michael, an elderly man who looks like he's been with her family for generations.

"If you would?" Blaze asked.

"Of course Princess." Michael said as he turned around and walked out. "I shall be back to check up on you." He left the room, closing the door behind.

Blaze sighs once more as she puts her hand on her brow, massaging them. "I swear…" She shook her head and walked to her bathroom, to get cleaned up.

She took a shower first, then came out and brushed her teeth, which oddly enough looked similar to a cat's fangs. She walks out of her room, towel wrapped around her as one of her maids came in and dropped her clothes off on her bed.

The maid bowed to Blaze before she walked out. Blaze herself was about to take the towel off and change into her clothes before she stopped as she turned to her dresser.

On the dresser was the yellow star charm she got from her friend a long time ago and the other was a picture.

Blaze walks up to the picture and picks it up, smiling softly as it was a younger version of her, smiling happily, and next to her was a spiky blonde hair boy, with a big happy goofy grin on his face as he wrapped his arm around her.

She puts her finger on the boy's face as she looked at him.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other?" She asked sadly as she hugged the picture. "Naruto…" She still couldn't get over of what happened last night.

She knew she wasn't imagining it. She heard him call out to her last night despite the loud festival happening. It was as if...the Charms they made were helping them communicate with each other.

Naruto…

She miss him. She miss him so very much. He was the first person to accept her for who she is. The first one to accept her "curse". Her first friend. The first person she ever formed a bond with.

Oh how she miss him. The goofy grin he's always wearing whenever he's up to something mischief and would always drag her with him.

A giggle erupted from her as she remembered all the pranks they pulled together back then and always managed to escape the Ninja really quick. There's also that time when-

She blinked and shook her head as she set the picture down and returned to get dress up before a determined expression appeared on her face.

"Naruto...you were calling out to me. I know you did. I promise...I'll figure out a way to come back to you." The Princess looks up. "Please wait for me."

Unknown to her, Michael was outside, ready to come and get the Princess before he heard what she said. A small smile formed on his face.

"Naruto Uzumaki, hm?" Michael gave a soft hearty chuckle. The Princess would always tell stories about the two of them and the pranks he would always pull on people and drag her with him.

"It would seem our dear Princess has found her Prince Charming. Ah~, young love indeed." He walks to her door and knocked on it, earning an "Enter" as he walked in.

Though he can't help but wonder what this mysterious young man was doing now.

* * *

**Land of Waves**

Naruto was snoring loudly as he tossed and turned in his bed. He groaned in annoyance as he felt the sun hitting him in the face. He pulled the blanket over his head but it wasn't enough as the sun continued to glare down at him.

"Alright you bastard I'm up!" Naruto exclaimed as he glared at the sun. "Damn! I can't catch a-"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"...break." Naruto quickly changed out of his pajamas and into regular clothes as he jumped out the window and made his way along the roof of the house where he could see Tsunami being held hostage by two thugs wielding katanas, a frightened Inari about ready to charge them.

"Hero time!" Naruto exclaimed as his legs turned into a figure eight before he jumped up and used his Spin-Dash in the air.

He launched himself at one of the thug's face, sending him flying off the pier and skipping across the water like a pebble before he fell in.

"Naruto!" Inari said in surprise just as the self-proclaimed Ultimate Ninja landed in front of him.

"Here's a little something you need to know kid; Heroes arrive at the last second kid." Naruto grinned as he gave him a thumbs up, making the kid smile.

"You little shit! Can't you see I have a hostage?!" The other thug yelled.

"Hostage?" Naruto asked, raising a brow while a smirk formed on his face. "You're seriously holding a toy doll as a hostage?"

The thug looked down and saw he no longer had the boy's mother in his arms but a toy doll.

"What the fuck!? When did-?!" The thug didn't finish as Naruto used his Homing Attack and knocked him out cold.

"My secret." Naruto smirked before he turned to Inari. "Kid, help me tie him up."

Both of them managed to tie the thug up.

"Okay, now where did my Team go?" Naruto asked.

"They and Grandpa left to go to the bridge." Inari replied as Naruto groaned.

"Without even waking me up." He said as he handed Inari his kunai. "To protect your mother in case he tries anything." He looks to where the last thug was currently. "Not sure about the other guy but if anything he probably drowned. Okay, see you later. Don't wanna miss all the action!" He was about to run but Inari grabbed the back of his shirt, making him turn to the kid.

"Um, Naruto." Inari said, looking at the ground. "I'm...really sorry about last night..."

"Don't worry about it." Naruto smiled rubbing Inari's head. "You did a really good job trying to stop these guys. I'm really proud of ya." He then grinned. "And so your Pops."

"Naruto..." Inari choked out, tears welling up in his eyes. He covered his eyes to keep the tears from falling out. "Oh great. I told myself that I wasn't going to cry again."

"And what's wrong with that?" Naruto asked, causing Inari to look at him. He smirked down at him and winked. "Those are tears of happiness dude. It just means that you're happy and don't forget it."

"Ok!" Inari beamed happily.

Naruto grinned before he ran off to the bridge. Time to get this party started.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Kakashi was busy handling Zabuza again while Sakura guarded Tazuna and Sasuke was currently facing Haku in what appeared to be a dome of mirrors.

_"Damn."_ Kakashi thought. _"I knew I should've woken up Naruto, he would've fully recharged his chakra by the time we got here."_

Just as Zabuza was about to charge Kakashi a lone kunai landed in front of him, he was about to ignore it until he saw the exploding tag attached to it.

"Shit!"

**BOOM!**

Zabuza backed away just in time to avoid the explosion. He looks ahead and narrowed his eyes as he saw a silhouette appear in the mist. "That brat!"

"What the hell!?" Tazuna asked.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

_"So...he's finally showed up."_ Kakashi thought.

"About time Loser." Sasuke grunted.

_"He's here."_ Haku thought. "#1 Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja."

"Huh? What's up with that lame title?" A familiar voice asked as the smoke began to clear away.

**Music: It Doesn't Matter [Sonic Adventure]**

"I think you mean…" The smoke gave away to show Naruto standing there with his arms crossed and a confident grin on his face. "The World's Ultimate Ninja! Naruto Uzumaki! Yeah, let's party!"

"Naruto!" Sakura called out happily.

"Sheesh! Tried to give me a heart attack!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"He has the element of surprise and he ruins it...only Naruto." Kakashi deadpanned but he chuckled.

_"That boy…"_ Haku thought as he remembered his encounter with him.

Naruto began to exercise as he grinned at Haku. "Alright Hunter-Nin, so how about we have that fight now? Because right now, I'm getting pumped up! And once I take you down I'll be taking down your Boss over there." He pointed at Zabuza.

_"Too arrogant Naruto…"_ Kakashi thought.

**Music Ends**

"So what do ya say?" Naruto asked as he got into a fighting stance.

"Sorry." Haku apologized as he turned to Sasuke. "But first I must deal with him." He walked into the mirror, shocking Naruto for a moment.

"What the hell?!" Naruto asked before his eyes widened as multiple needles came and attacked Sasuke as he cried out in pain.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto had a serious expression on his face as he looked at the ice dome mirrors. What the hell were those? Some sort of secret technique or something? This guy was definitely tough.

_"Naruto, Sasuke think! You need to attack from the outside and the inside at the same time!"_ Kakashi thought as he watched Naruto observed the dome with a serious expression.

Naruto grinned. "That's it." He said quietly.

Inside the ice dome, Sasuke looked down in thought, thinking of a plan to escape. _"Yes. It's about position. Naruto and I are in the same position and if I attack-"_

"Damn!" Naruto exclaimed as he appeared in front of Sasuke, shocking him comically. "This guy messed you up pretty bad, huh Sasuke?" He wrapped his arm around him, laughing and rubbing his head. "Don't worry! For I am here to save the day!"

…So much for that plan.

Sakura had a dumbfounded expression while Kakashi had a deadpanned expression showing in his eye.

"Naruto you sneak up on your enemy, not your ally." Kakashi said as he closed his eye tiredly.

Sasuke got Naruto's arm off of him. "You are so stupid! You're a Shinobi think before you act!"

"'Think'? I don't _think_ I just go!" Naruto yelled back. "Besides I'm the one who came in here to try and save your sorry ass!"

"Naruto, if we we're both inside here…" Sasuke growled before he turned away. "Forget it, I'm sick of your goofiness!"

"And I'm sick of that attitude of yours!" Naruto yelled as he reached into his pocket. "And I came all the way out here to give you this!" He took out an Item Box and threw it at him, catching him off guard.

"What the-"

The Item Box hit Sasuke but instead of feeling pain or falling backwards, the Box disappeared and Sasuke felt himself getting healed and slightly get stronger as sparkles were around him. He stood up and looked over his body before turning to Naruto.

"What was that?"

"Remember that Gold Ring I used on Zabuza a few days ago?" Naruto asked back as Sasuke nodded.

Though he had to admit, he completely forgotten about that Ring and he did want to know where he got them from.

"Well long story short, I found that Box, the one I threw at you, and it had 10 of those Gold Rings inside." Naruto chuckled. "I'm telling ya those things come in handy!"

"Oh yeah…" Sakura said as she remembered Naruto holding a Gold Ring and used it to beat Zabuza.

_"Huh. I knew I forgot to ask Naruto something."_ Kakashi thought as he wanted to ask him about that Ring.

"WHOA!"

Naruto and Sasuke had to dodge as a barrage of senbon came flying at them.

"I am sorry but it is time I end this." The Hunter-Nin began going from mirror to mirror making it hard for either to keep up.

**Music: Radical Highway [Sonic Adventure 2]**

"Oh yeah!? Let's go!" Naruto used his Spin Dash and charged at one of the mirrors ignoring Sasuke's warning. He got a mirror that Haku was in before he vanished and the glass shattered.

Naruto got out of his Spin Dash and looks in confusion as the mirror quickly reformed itself. "The hell!? CHEATING BASTARD!" He did a Spin Jump and did a Homing Attack on the mirrors only to result in the same thing as he was floating in the air and watched the mirrors reformed.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed before his eyes widened as many Haku's appeared in the mirror. "Oh crap."

Haku and his reflections launched a barrage of needles. Naruto used his telekinesis to stop them.

"What!?" Haku asked in shock before he saw the cyan aura glowing around Naruto. _"He stopped them? How did-?"_

"Ha! Nice try! This is the power of my telekinesis!" Naruto laughed as he shot back all the needles at the mirrors only for them to be deflected by the mirrors as they fell down.

"Where did-AHH!" He cried out in pain as he got hit by the needles from above, making Gold Rings come out and fell down. He looks up and saw Haku disappear before he looked at the Rings scattered around him.

"_...What?"_ Sasuke asked in complete confusion as the Gold Rings were on the ground before they began to disappear. _"The Rings...came out of him? Where the hell did Naruto find these things?"_

"Hey! Those were my Rings! **Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Multiple Naruto appeared and they all charged at each reflection in the mirror. "Get him!"

The real Naruto was among them as he reached into his jacket pocket, and took out one of the Chaos Emerald. **"Chaos Control."** He whispered.

Once he did that, everyone and everything were completely frozen. He looks at the mirror's reflections to try and spot the real Haku. He already knew that those reflections weren't clones. They couldn't be. So how was he able to get into all those mirrors at the same time?

"Unless..." Naruto continues to look around before he saw something that caught his attention. It was the Hunter-Nin, and he was coming out of the mirror.

"Found you!" Time returned to normal as Naruto moved to where Haku was at when all his clones poofed into smoke. "Peek-a-boo!" He kicked Haku in the mid-section, sending him into a mirror.

_"He got me?!"_ Haku asked as he held his stomach.

"You got him!" Sasuke said in shock.

"I got him." Naruto replied in his dead serious tone before he whispered to Sasuke. "At first I thought he was using Clones to attack us. But it turns out, those are just his reflections."

"Reflections…?" Sasuke asked before his eyes widened in realization.

"That's right. Meaning, we have to make this guy come out." Naruto said before he ran forward, trying to exit the dome. His eyes moved between the mirrors before Haku appeared.

"Come on!" Naruto runs to the side just as Haku kept up with him in the mirrors. He looked to his left and saw Haku before he vanished. "No you don't! Chaos-"

"Naruto above you!" Sasuke called out.

Naruto quickly moved his left hand up as he was covered in cyan aura before he stopped a few needles coming at him. He looked to the right and saw needles coming at him. He moved his right hand and he stopped them.

"D-damn!" Naruto growled. He looks around. "Where is he?!"

"Behind you!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto's eyes widened before he felt pain from the needles. "ARGH!" His aura disappeared as the needles that he stopped fell on the ground.

But that wasn't enough as more needles came out, but Naruto managed to dodge them thanks to his amazing reflexes. He smirked as he grabbed Haku's sleeve from a mirror, earning a gasp.

"Sasuke! Now!" Naruto pulled him out and threw him at Sasuke.

**"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"** Sasuke spat out a fireball at Haku, who managed to dodge it just in time, but managed to slightly get his pants burned. He then got into a mirror.

"Yes! We managed to get him!" Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah." Naruto said as he tiredly stood up before he fell on his butt. "Damn! I guess using my Telekinesis took some out of me." He then rubbed his forehead. "And a minor headache."

"Enough of this." Haku said. "It's time we end this."

Naruto stood up, wiping the blood of his face. "Tch, you got that right." He grinned, before he reached into his pocket. "It's time we put an end to this battle." He took out a Gold Ring but unfortunately his star charm came out as it fell on the ground. "Huh…?"

_"There!"_ Haku quickly dashed out the mirror and took the Lucky Charm just before Naruto reached out to it, knocking him away and into a mirror as he bounced off, letting go of the Ring.

"Naruto!" Sasuke went to his side and helped him stand up.

Naruto looked to the spot where his star charm fell and his eyes widened as it was gone. "No! Give it back!" He shouted angrily at Haku as many of him appeared holding onto it.

"I said give it back now!" Naruto ran to one of the mirrors and punched it hard, making it crack. He looks around trying to find the real one only to get even more angry as Haku and his reflections waved it tauntingly.

"You want it?" He asked. "Come and get it."

"YOU!" Naruto angrily charged at using a mirror using his Homing Attack, only for it to bounce him back before he tried it again with many others.

"Knock it off you idiot! He's trying to make you lose your head!" Sasuke yelled.

"Hmph." Haku said as a barrage of needles came out and attacked Naruto.

"AHH!" Naruto fell back down harshly as he gasped in pain, making blood spit out his mouth.

_"Damn idiot!"_ Sasuke thought before he noticed Haku getting ready to launch another barrage of needles. He quickly got to Naruto, picked him up and jumped out of the way.

Once he landed safely he dropped Naruto.

"You might as well give up." Haku said. "There is no way for you to escape."

"S...Shut up." Naruto looked up, glaring angrily at Haku. "I'm never gonna give up. If I did...then I would never be able to face her again or be able to reach my dream! Now...give me back...MY CHARM!"

"You'll have to take it from me." Haku said as Naruto growled at him while he tried to stand up, only to fall down.

Sasuke looked around the reflections, trying to think of a solution out here, before something glowing caught his attention. He turned to it and saw it was the Gold Ring that Naruto was about to use on him.

He then thought back on their first battle with Zabuza. Naruto used this Ring and it gave him an extra power boost.

"Which means…" Sasuke said as he ran to the Ring and grabbed it. He looks up and gripped it in his hands as it glowed brightly. _"I can feel it."_ He closed his eyes before they were snapped opened, revealing the Sharingan.

_"Impossible! Those eyes…! The Sharingan!?"_ Haku asked in shock.

Sasuke did a few hand-signs. **"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"** He spat the Fireball out but his eyes widened in awe as his fireball got bigger and had a golden like aura around it.

Once the fireball touched a mirror, a large explosion erupted as it destroyed the mirrors along with the others surrounding it, before they were repaired.

"Whoa…" Sasuke said as he looked at his hands, seeing that the Ring is gone. "That's...the power of those Gold Rings?"

Haku appeared and observed Sasuke. Was that the same Jutsu from before? It looked more powerful than ever as it destroyed some of his mirrors. No. It was that Gold Ring. Whatever it was it gave him an extra boost in power and it caused him to awaken the Sharingan.

In other words, that's what Naruto Uzumaki was trying to do before. Speaking of, he turns to him and saw him stand up as he glared at him.

_"I must take him down and then he's next."_ Haku dashed to Naruto through the mirrors as Naruto took a defensive position

_"No! He's attacking Naruto!"_ Sasuke thought.

**Music Ends**

Naruto was getting ready to dodge the needles before he was pushed out of the way.

"What the hell!?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke and saw he was riddled with needles.

"I...swear...you really are...the Ultimate Loser." Sasuke said weakly.

"Why…? Why did you save me? I WAS GONNA DODGE THEM! SO WHY!?" Naruto demanded.

"Truthfully...I don't know why, my body sort of moved on it's on, even though I've always hated you." Sasuke fell back just as Naruto caught him. "Dammit I can't die here, I still need to kill him. My...older brother." Memories of his adventures with his Squad started to flash in his mind. "Do me a favor...Naruto….and survive. Survive and fulfill your dream."

With that Sasuke stopped moving leaving a silent wide eyed Naruto holding him. Even though these two were always at each other's throats, the two of them would never admit it. But they were best friends. His eyes widened further as a younger Blaze appeared and she was in the same position as Sasuke making him take heavy breaths.

"Your friend died like a true shinobi, protecting someone that was precious to him." Haku said.

Naruto growled as red chakra flowed around his body, changing his once blue eyes to a blood red with a slit in them, his teeth into full fangs, and his nails into claws. His whiskers were more defined, giving him a feral appearance. The cyan symbols on his hand was glowing crimson.

"You'll pay..." Naruto spoke angrily. "You'll pay for this. I'll kill you!"

**Insert Song: Almost Dead [Shadow the Hedgehog]**

Haku was for once scared, this malevolent red chakra that surrounded the blond red streaked boy was practically oozing killing intent.

_"Wh...what chakra is this?!"_

The red chakra seemed to coalesce into the shape of a fox's head above Naruto's body while looking at Haku.

_"Impossible! His chakra is physically manifesting itself! And what an appalling chakra it is!"_

Haku watched as the wounds inflicted on the boy seemed to close on their own, steam rising off of them as they sealed shut.

_"His wounds...they're healing themselves! Who...what on earth is he?"_

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Haku, his blood lust evident in his eyes as he glared at the mask wearing Nin.

* * *

Both Kakashi and Zabuza have been fighting on the bridge before both felt the malevolent chakra that washed over the bridge.

"Is this Zabuza's doing?" Kakashi asked before his eyes widened as he sensed the familiar malice of this chakra. _"NO! That power! So foul...and evil...yet familiar...it can't be!"_

"This chakra I'm feeling, something about it fills me with dread, is this Kakashi's doing? No it seems bigger than Kakashi somehow, but who is giving it off?" Zabuza clenched his sword in his hand tightly fearing an attack from all sides by whoever was emanating that powerful chakra.

Kakashi turned to the mirror dome. _"Naruto! Can it be? Is the seal broken? No, it's been loosened. The Nine Tails Fox's power is being leaked out of the seal and the creature itself isn't coming out."_ He reached into his pouch, taking out a scroll and throwing it in the air.. _"Good. That means we still have a chance. Maybe."_

"Zabuza, I'm a busy man and you're a busy man. We've both got a lot on our plates so let's stop screwing around and wrap this up? One big move, winner takes all?" Kakashi unraveled the scroll, smearing some blood from his earlier cut across the length before rolling it backup and focusing chakra into it.

"An intriguing notion, what's left Kakashi? Show me what you've got!"

* * *

Naruto was on all fours as he growled, glaring at Haku, a snarl beginning to form when he saw his star charm still in Haku's hand.

_"The blood lust in those eyes!"_ Haku thought. _"This is not the same child I met!"_

Naruto gave off a feral roar as Haku got prepared to fight. He charges at Haku in a mad dash, as after-images appeared behind him.

Haku threw several senbon needles at the charging Naruto who with a mere roar deflected them away from him. The Hunter-Nin used this chance to move to another mirror, completely surprised at what he just saw.

_"He deflected them without even touching them!"_ Haku drew three senbon and charged towards Naruto who merely raised his hand and needles had a crimson aura around them. He gave a roar as he swiped his hand, sending the needles backs, causing cracks to form on the mirrors. He dashed to a mirror and before turning into a Spin Dash, completely shattering it.

Haku came out from one of the shards above him, kunai drawn and ready to stab him. But Naruto just backflipped away and looked up at him.

_"I've got to make it to the next mirror!"_ Before Haku could even try to make it Naruto had grabbed a hold of his arm squeezing with all his considerable might.

_"Those eyes!"_

With a roar Naruto crushed Haku's arm making him lose focus for a moment which is all he needed to punch him in the face, sending him through one of his mirrors which made him break the justus making the other mirrors shatter as well.

**Song Ends**

Naruto looked down at the star charm he got back before he looked up. He took off once he saw the Hunter-Nin get up charging towards him with the intent to finish him off.

He would have succeeded too had the mist nin's mask not shattered revealing the boy he had met the previous day.

"You..." Naruto's features went back to normal as the fox's chakra dissipated from his body. "You're that guy I saw the other day. You're with Zabuza?"

"...Why did you stop?"

Naruto blinks.

"I murdered your comrade, your friend, someone you care about...and you still spare me?!" Naruto looked over and saw Sasuke's needle ridden body, hair shadowing his eyes. He then punched Haku again, only for him to fall.

"What happened to all that power from before? You can't hope to kill me with that force you put behind that punch. Finish me off, Zabuza has no use for a weak shinobi." Haku told him.

"Why? Why waste all that devotion on him?! He doesn't care who he works for or who gets hurt as long as he gets paid! Is someone like that really precious to you?!" Naruto asked.

"I was precious once." Haku told him. "When I was little I lived with my parents in a snowy little village in the Land of Water. But when I got old enough something happened. Blood. My Blood."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.**  
**  
"My father killed my mother and tried to kill me. The Land of Water has been plagued by a civil war of sorts, with the two sides being those with bloodline abilities or Kekkei Genkai and those without. After the war those of us with kekkei genkai were hunted down, and those of us who survived did so because we hid our abilities. I'm sure that boy I killed grew up knowing the pain I speak. We are special, we are powerful, but most of all we are feared. My father learned that my mother came from a clan that had a bloodline and before I even realized what happened, I had killed my father. Then it came to me, I had to accept it, which was the hardest thing."

"Accept...what?" Naruto dared to ask.

"That I was alone in the world, shunned, unwanted. Didn't you tell me you wanted respect from your village? If someone, just one person not only did that but acknowledged you, even cared for you, wouldn't that one person become the most precious person in the whole world to you?"

At that moment an image of Blaze and Iruka flashed through Naruto's head.

"Zabuza adopted me, knowing who I was and what I was. The very thing people hated me for he didn't. In fact he cherished it, he wanted it! I...I was so happy that I wanted to stay by his side and forever be his tool. Naruto, please...take my life."

Naruto's eyes widened.

* * *

Kakashi flipped through hand seals while still holding the scroll before slamming it down on the ground.

**"Summoning Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu!"**

"That posturing will get you nowhere Kakashi. I have you completely in my spell!"

A small sound alerted Zabuza as several ninja dogs erupted from the ground each biting him to hold him in place.

"When your eyes and ears fail you, you can always follow your nose. This Jutsu is specifically made for tracking, it's why I went out of my way to bleed during our little bouts. My Nin Dogs have your scent, the fog is lifting and your future is clear. Your future is death." Kakashi explained.

"Ha I've had enough of your bluffs Kakashi." Zabuza growled.

"Who's bluffing?" Kakashi asked. "You're going to die one way or another. You're willing to let Wave suffer to advance your own ambitions. That is not what a True Shinobi does."

"Spare me the philosophy lesson, I'm fighting for my own ideals and I'm not about to stop." Zabuza told him as he struggled to get out of the dogs grips.

Kakashi flipped through three hand seals before his right hand became covered in lightning chakra.

"Your future...is _death_."

* * *

"What are you waiting for Naruto? Do it. Kill me."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I'm not going to kill you! I'll knock some sense into you yeah, but kill? Come on dude! You can't just expect me to do something like that!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto, the day I met you in the forest I was thinking we were the same. Surely you can understand. I'm sorry you have to bloody your hands." Haku apologized.

"Forget it Haku! I'm not going to kill you over something like that!" Naruto said in a stern tone. "You may see yourself as a tool but in front of me, I see a person. A person who's been alone throughout his childhood but found someone who saved him from that lonliness." Once again Blaze appeared in his head. "Haku, if Zabuza wanted to, he would've killed you right then and there, but he didn't. Why? Because he saw something in you. _Not_ your abilities, just _you_ in general. You say that Zabuza is precious to you but did you even bother to think that Zabuza considers _you_ precious to him as well? And I think he would be sad if you died!"

Haku's eyes widen slightly from hearing that. He never once thought of that before. Yes, Zabuza is precious to him because he saved him from his lonliness. He wanted to believe that it was because of his bloodline as the reason for him taking him, so he decided to become his weapon. But was that really the case? Did Zabuza truly take him in because of his bloodline...or because he felt sorry for what happened to him?

"Your life is your own. Instead of living it as a weapon, why don't you live it as a human?" Naruto asked, a soft smile on his face. He raised his hand up to Haku. "It's what makes life more fun, don't you think?"

Haku stared at the offered hand before looking up at Naruto's face smiling face. He felt his lips twitch upwards along with his good hand. He slowly reached up and was this close to taking it before he stopped and turns his head to the sound of a thousand birds chirping.

"Haku?" Naruto asked before he too heard the sound. What was that?

"...I'm sorry Naruto." With his lone hand, Haku flipped through hand seals and conjured a mirror and vanished, making Naruto's eyes widen.

"No wait!"

* * *

Kakashi charged towards Zabuza, intent on thrusting his Lightning Blade through him. However his eyes widened in shock as he found his hand through Haku's chest.

"Z...Z...Zabuza…"

"No!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"Well Kakashi, you said my future was death but it seems you were wrong again." Zabuza grinned.

Naruto could see figures in the mist and rushed towards them only to see Kakashi's hand through Haku's chest, making his eyes widened as he gasped.

"HAKU!"

Zabuza grabbed his sword and swung it towards Kakashi, who shunshin away with Haku's body where he laid it down and closed his eyes.

"Hey! What the hell happened Kakashi?!" Naruto's wide angry eyes stared at Kakashi, who only shook his head.

"He risked his own life to save Zabuza." The Jōnin replied sadly much to Naruto disbelief.

"No…" Naruto grit his teeth as he punched the ground. That damn, stupid, fucking fool! After what he just said...! Why didn't he…?!

"So it seems you were able to get away just because poor Haku was already dead." Zabuza said.

Naruto's eyes went wide in anger as he was about to charge at Zabuza. "BASTARD!"

"Naruto, stay out of this, this is my fight!" Kakashi told him, making him back down for now.

"Naruto! You're alive!"

Naruto turned to see Sakura guarding Tazuna as she waved at him. His eyes widened as he went stiff. _"Oh shit, I forgot about Sakura..."_

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"..."

Naruto's silence, plus him turning away, didn't sit well with Sakura who froze as if her whole world was now shattered. Kakashi was listening in and when he didn't hear Naruto respond to Sakura's question he knew what it meant.

"Don't let yourself get distracted Kakashi!" Zabuza charged at Kakashi who ducked low and kicked him in the gut knocking the breath out of him.

**Music: Grief and Sorrow [Naruto]**

"Sakura, I'll stay with you, so you're not disobeying your sensei." Tazuna said as Sakura nodded nervously.

Both Sakura and Tazuna ran past Naruto, who kept his head away and was shaking, his fists clenched tightly.

Sakura and Tazuna both saw Sasuke's body covered in needles. Sakura felt his body and it felt so cold. Tazuna could see the girl was fighting to hold it in.

"It's okay to let it out, there are times when you just have to cry, don't hold it in for my sake."

Sakura was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"I used to always get perfect scores on my tests. One of these tests had a question. What is rule number 25 of Shinobi Conduct? And like always I simply answered it. 'No matter what happens, a true shinobi must never...ever show their emotions! Th-the mission is the only priority. Carry that in your heart and never ever shed a tear'." Sakura broke down, tears of sadness dropping on Sasuke's face. "B-But...but Naruto was right. Those rules...those rules are so cruel!"

_"So this is what a shinobi is...how horrible it is...to make children go through that."_ Tazuna thought as he watched the pink haired girl cry over her teammate.

Naruto grit his teeth. He looks back at Sasuke's body and turned away. But then blinked as he looked back. From here, he could that there were some needles in his neck. Which were the pressure points. Which means…

Naruto sent a deadpan expression at Sasuke's body before he face palmed in disbelief. _"You gotta be shitting me."_

**Music Ends**

Zabuza couldn't understand it, Kakashi was batting him aside like he was a pest and try as he might to hit him he couldn't seem to land one blow on the Copy Nin.

Before he even knew what was going on Kakashi had his hand on the back of Zabuza's neck and plunged two kunai into each of his major arm muscles.

"There now you can't use either arm." Kakashi said.

"Well well well, he's certainly made a fine mess of you. What a pity Zabuza!" A voice called out at the end of the bridge, getting everyone's attentions.

It was Gato and his whole army of thugs. Naruto's eyes as he sensed two Chaos Emeralds and he narrowed his eyes at Gato.

"Gato, what are you doing here? And why did you bring all of them?"

"Simple, there has been a slight change of plans, or of your plans anyways. You must have guessed I never did intend to pay you. It's such a hassle hiring skilled shinobi, so expensive and their village and friends tend to be upset when you kill them. Nukenin on the other hand, no one cares what happens to you when the job is done. When you ninja wear each other down, common thugs can finish the rest, it's a good business plan, cheap and effective. Hiring you was probably my worst mistake. You're no demon, a baby demon maybe."

"Kakashi, it seems I am now unemployed which means our differences are settled." Zabuza stated.

"Yeah, looks like it." Kakashi agreed.

"There still is one thing to do." Gato walked over to Haku's corpse and started kicking it.

Naruto's eyes widened in anger from the action. His legs turned into the figure 8 as he dashed to them but was held back by Kakashi. "Stay away from him!"

"Naruto, cool it, there are a lot of them there." Kakashi told him.

"So?! I can take them all! Hey Zabuza!" Naruto turned to Zabuza. "Why are you standing there like an idiot!? Are you seriously gonna watch and let him do that?"

"Be quiet fool. Haku is dead. What does it matter?"

"That fat sack of crap is treating his corpse like a dead dog on a street! Don't you care about that?! Haven't you two been together for years now?"

"Kid, you don't understand how the Shinobi World works. Haku and I were used, that's what happens to Shinobi. I didn't value Haku for himself, but for the power his blood carried and what his talents could do for me. I apologize for nothing."

"BULLSHIT!" Naruto appeared in front of Zabuza and gripped him by his collar.

"Okay, enough Naruto! He's not our enemy, leave him alone."

Naruto ignored Kakashi and tightened his grip. "He really cared about you, you jackass! After everything he did for you! He lived for you!"

Memories of his encounter with him flashed in his mind.

"You were the most important person in the world to him! And you're here telling me that he didn't mean nothing to you! I don't believe that crap! I know you care about him as well, cause if you hadn't you would've killed him the day you two met! And what about me or other Genin out there my age!? What about Sakura!?" He pointed at the girl, who was weeping on Sasuke's chest. "If we get stronger are we going to end up exactly like you, just tools!? Forget it!" Tears were now falling from his eyes. "Haku threw his life away and for what? For your dream?! Well what about him!? Why doesn't he have one!? He's a human isn't he?! He has every right to have a dream! But he doesn't...he didn't care about it. But you just tossed him aside, like a broken tool. That's not fair...that is wrong...you are wrong for not telling Haku how you _truly_ feel shinobi code be damned."

"You talk too much..."

Naruto looked up at Zabuza and could see he was crying just like he was, making his eyes widen.

"Your words cut deep. Deeper than any blade. When he fought you, his heart was breaking in two. That is the honest truth. He was always too soft, too kind. He felt pain and sorrow, and now, curse him, I feel them too. And I feel something else. I feel content that this is the way it ends. I'm glad my last battle was against you. You're right you know." Zabuza ripped the bandages off his mouth with his teeth. "We may be Shinobi, but in the end we're just simply human, with all the feelings involved and I have now lost everything. Boy, would you lend me your kunai?"

Naruto wiped his eyes and tossed it to the Missing-Nin, who caught if with his teeth, and took off towards Gato and his men, who looked really scared.

"What are you all waiting for? Kill him!"

Zabuza flared his chakra which like Naruto's seem to transform into a monstrous shape scaring all of the thugs even more.

_"A...a demon!"_ Gato thought he was safe behind his men until he saw Zabuza slaughtering them all with just a kunai in his mouth taking swords, picks, and other weapons in his back. Gato could only watch in horror as Zabuza stabbed the kunai into his chest.

"W...why won't you die? If you're in such a hurry to be with your little friend, go alone!" Gato yelled.

"I have no intention of going to the same place as Haku. I'm taking you with me to Hell! Even a baby demon in life can grow up into a real demon in Hell!" Zabuza pulled the kunai out and in one swift motion cut off Gato's head, staring the rest of the thugs in the face, his eyes hardened daring any of them to charge him.

"Looks like this is goodbye for now Haku. Thanks for everything...and I'm sorry."

Zabuza fell to the ground leaving a stunned Naruto, who then turned away.

"Don't look away, Naruto, that was the end of a man who lived his life fully." Kakashi told him.

Naruto looked at him for a moment before he turns to look at Zabuza. A small smile appeared on his face as he thought about a certain blue hedgehog. _"Yeah...living life to the fullest. Isn't that right, Sonic?"_

Sakura continued sobbing over Sasuke's body which unseen to her had twitched.

"Sakura...your arm...is heavy." Sakura blinked once, then twice just to make sure it wasn't a dream. Sasuke really was alive.

"SASUKE! SASUKE!"

"Sakura...you're hurting me!"

"Oh I'm sorry!"

"I'm alright, how's Naruto? And that creep in the mask?"

"Don't try to move! Naruto's fine and the boy in the mask is dead!"

"What?! Did Naruto...?"

"No...I'm not sure, the boy died protecting Zabuza from Kakashi-sensei. Naruto! It's Sasuke! He's alive!"

Naruto blinked and turned around. He then deadpanned at them. "Yup. I knew it." But he did give a small smile.

"AREN'T YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING?! YOU JUST KILLED OUR MEAL TICKET! NOW THE ONLY WAY TO BREAK EVEN IS TO LOOT THE TOWN!"

The thugs yelled out as they went to charge into town.

A lone crossbow bolt landed in front of the group of thugs. Naruto and the others turned to see Inari and the villagers all armed ready to defend their home.

**Music: His World (Instrumental) [Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)]**

"STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! THIS IS OUR HOME! COME ONE STEP CLOSER AND YOU'LL DIE WHERE YOU STAND!" One of the villagers yelled.

"Oh snap! Inari?" Naruto smiled, seeing the boy taking charge.

"A hero always arrive at the last second y'know?" Inari said as a grin forms on Naruto's face.

He then formed a familiar cross hand seal "Mind if I join you? **Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Over a dozen Naruto's stood there ready to fight the thugs.

_"I can't manage anything solid with my chakra this low but a bluff should be enough to scare these guys off!"_ Kakashi thought. **"Shadow Clone Jutsu! Kakashi-Style!"**

Over a hundred copies of Kakashi stood all armed with kunai and doing hand seals.

"Now shall we?" Naruto grinned evilly as he cracked his knuckles.

"NEVERMIND! RUN AWAY!" The thugs started running and jumping over each other to get off the bridge. They had all seen what Zabuza had done to them and he was one ninja, never mind the hundreds that were now on the bridge.

"Oh yeah. **Chaos Control**." Naruto whispered as time stopped. He runs to where Gato's body was and reached into his shirt pockets and took out the turquoise and blue emeralds.

"Yes! Six down! One to go. I'm on a roll here!" He chuckled.

The bridge was safe now, and Gato was dead meaning Wave was now safe. Everyone including the ninjas that helped protect them could rest easy.

* * *

**One Week Later**

**Insert Song: You're My Hero [Sonic 3D Blast]**

A week later Sasuke was resting his body. Kakashi had wanted him to take it easy due to the injuries that Haku had given him. While they weren't life threatening moving around too much would mean he would have to be bedridden for that much longer. Sakura would always stop by to visit him and Naruto would come just to tease and mess with him, much to his annoyance.

While Sasuke was in bed, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi have been helping out the villagers repair their homes and giving out some food, while also making sure many of Gato's thugs were completely gone.

Squad 7 stood there in front of Tazuna and his family, the bridge was now completed due to Gato being killed and the bridge builder had decided to see the team off.

"You guys are welcome back here at any time." Tazuna told them.

"Sweet! We'll come and visit whenever we can!" Naruto grinned happily.

"Naruto! You better visit! And good luck in finding your friend! I want to meet her." Inari said as Naruto gave him a thumbs up.

"You know it!"

As the Team left, Tsunami stood there with her father and her son and wondered something.

"Father, what are we gonna name the bridge?"

"I was thinking...the Great Naruto Bridge. After the boy who brought hope to our once shattered land."

"I think that's a wonderful name." Tsunami said.

* * *

Squad 7 were on the road as they walked in complete silence.

"Well that was one awesome adventure." Naruto said happily. "And we still got more waiting for us! Hope you guys are ready"

Everyone shook their heads at him before Kakashi remembered something.

**Song Ends**

"Oh yeah. Naruto I've been meaning to ask you about those Gold Rings you have on you." Kakashi said which caught Sakura and Sasuke's attention.

"Now that sensei's mention it…" Sakura said. "I never heard about those Rings back at the Academy."

"That's because no one in the Shinobi World knows about them." Naruto said, surprising them. "I know a little bit about them so I'll tell you what I know." He reached into his pocket and took out a Gold Ring showing everyone it. "You see, these Rings are very special. They're very much different from the normal ones."

"Okay so what's special about them?" Sasuke asked, looking at the Ring with interest. He was honestly surprised by the awesome power boost the Rings gave him during their battle on the bridge. It was so great that it made his jutsu become more powerful and deadly than it was before.

And he wanted to know more about them.

"Within these Rings hold a completely unknown unspecified energy. Whatever this energy is, it's not chakra." Naruto explained, shocking them. "Since it resides in the Gold Rings, I call it Ring Energy."

"Ring Energy…" Kakashi said, looking at the Ring with interest.

"Whoa that's cool." Sakura said, staring at it in awe.

"..." Sasuke was wide eyed about it. "The first battle with Zabuza...our fight with Haku...that was us using Ring Energy?"

"Yup." Naruto nodded. "Not only that, Ring Energy can also be used to power up some machines. But when organic beings like us use it, then it can rejuvenate your stamina and abilities. When me and Sasuke used them, they gave us a temporary extra power boost. Plus when you collect the Rings, they'll protect you from taking damage until you run out of them."

"Really?" Sakura asked.

"It's true." Sasuke nodded, remembering how the Rings popped out of Naruto from when he took damage. "When Haku attacked Naruto I saw the Rings pop out of him before they vanished."

"They can also be used for money." Naruto added. "_Especially since I don't have to waste mine to get some ramen."_

Kakashi and Sakura had surprised expressions on their faces. They didn't think for one second that the Rings could be used for money.

"Where exactly did you find these Rings?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me. These things popped up some time ago and I'm the only one to discover them."

It was the truth. Ever since he inherited the Hedgehogs' powers, the Rings started to pop up everywhere. Naruto knew for a fact that these Rings came from their world and they somehow ended up here along with the Chaos Emeralds. It was like objects from their world is coming here.

"Noted." Kakashi said, looks he got something to tell to the Hokage.

Sakura looked at Naruto and looked down at his pocket, seeing his star charm. There was something always bugging her since Naruto revealed he had a friend in his childhood.

"Hey Naruto." Sakura called.

"Yo."

"I...have a question. It's about your friend. The one you mentioned before." Sakura said, getting him to stop walking, making them stop too.

"...What about her?" Naruto asked, his back still turned to them, since they don't want to see his face.

"Well... I wanted to know, who was she? What was she like? What happened to her?" Sakura asked, making Sasuke and Kakashi curious as well.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and sighed. Might as well tell them. "Well…"

* * *

***Flashback***

**Hidden Leaf Village (Seven Years Ago)**

_"Her name's Blaze. We met a while back when I was at the park. I was just sitting on the swings by myself as usual."_

5 year old Naruto is seen sitting on a swing by himself as he watched the other children play with each other or with their family.

A kid came by him with a ball in his hand as he looked at him. His father, a Shinobi, came by and quickly grabbed his hand, telling his son to don't talk to him, making the young Naruto look down sadly, before he looked up and saw people staring at him as he heard the whispers.

_"I just sat there and watched as the children played. I was gonna get up and leave the park but then…"_

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt someone push him. He looks behind him in shock as he saw a girl, around his age, pushing him on the swing.

She had lilac colored hair in a bob cut, with long bangs framing her face and the tips being dark purple. She had golden colored eyes and a ruby gem on her forehead. She wore black tight shorts and a yellow shirt. She also wore golden bracelets on her wrists.

Naruto stared up at her with shock and surprise, but it increased when she smiled at him as she kept pushing him.

_"I was shocked that she was actually pushing me. I was even more shocked when I saw her smile at me. Before I knew it, she told me her name…"_

"Hi! I'm Blaze! What's your name?" She asked happily as she kept pushing him.

"..." Naruto continued to stare at her with a surprise look on his face. She...introduced herself to him? But wait a second, didn't she know who he is? He looks around and saw many grown ups staring at the two. He then looked down, his haro shadowing his eyes.

"What does it matter?" Naruto asked sadly. "Your parents are just gonna take you away."

"No they won't." Blaze said as she stopped pushing.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked and turns to her with wide eyes. "W-What do you mean?"

"...my parents aren't here..." Blaze answered in an emotionless tone, surprising Naruto, before she smiled again, wanting to change the subject. "So what's your name?"

"N-Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said shyly.

Blaze giggled. "That's a funny name."

"Hey! My name's not funny!" Naruto exclaimed as he got up from his swing and pointed at her. "It's a cool name, ya know!"

Blaze covered her mouth to stop the giggles that erupted from her lips. "Your name means 'fishcake'! It's a ramen topping."

Naruto's face turned red in embarassment and anger. "Oi! It's maelstrom! My name means maelstrom! The old man told me so!"

"Fishcakes!" Blaze cheered as she pointed at him.

"Maelstrom!" Naruto argued, pointing at her.

"Fishcakes!"

"Maelstrom!"

"Maelstrom!"

"Fishcakes! My name means fishcakes and that's final!" Naruto declared as he crossed his arms.

"Okay, have it your way." Blaze said, shrugging her shoulders as Naruto smiled smugly. She smirks at him and whispered in a low voice. "3...2...1."

Naruto's eyes widened comically before he glared at Blaze. "HEY! You tricked me!"

"Yes. Yes I did." Blaze still smirked.

The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds before they puffed their cheeks out and laughed together.

Blaze suddenly grabbed Naruto's hand, stopping him as he turns to her. "I like you Naruto! Come on, let's play!" She ran to the park while still holding Naruto's hand.

Naruto was shocked. This was definitely something new to him. He didn't expect anyone, let alone a girl, to say they like him and invited him to come play with them, while _holding_ his hand. He looked at her smiling face. She looked really happy to have made a...friend.

Friend...is that what Blaze wanted? Him to be her friend? No one ever wanted to be his friend before. He tried to be friends with the others but their parents told them to stay away from him.

He looks down at her hand before holding it as well. Slowly a big happy grin appeared on his face as he ran alongside her, both of them laughing, not seeing the shocked or surprised looks from those who were watching them.

_"Since then, the two of us became best friends. The time we spent together, I began to learn more about her. She kinda had this elegant air around her. She was always calm and level headed, but she did have this fiery temper that always made me run away from her whenever I did something stupid."_

Various scenes of Naruto and Blaze playing appeared as it showed them pranking someone, well Naruto pranking someone, and her sighing at his antics. Naruto was running away, a comical scared expression on his face, as Blaze chased him around, a comical angry expression on her face. The two of them were at Ichiraku's Ramen enjoying a nice single bowl of ramen together.

Blaze giving a tear eyed Naruto the star charm was seen.

_"I wanted those days to last forever. But one day…"_

Blaze and Naruto were on top of a hill watching the sunset. But then Naruto saw sparkles coming right next to him. He turned to Blaze and his eyes widened as he saw her glowing.

_"She...just started glowing. I told her about it and she got scared, telling me that they were calling her back. She was panicking as she said she didn't want to go back and wanted to stay. She...started to cry and hugged me."_

"B...Blaze…?" Naruto asked nervously as his eyes began to water.

"I'm…" Blaze sobbed into his shoulder. "I'm sorry N-Naruto!" She then began to float in the air as she grabbed Naruto's hand. "No! I-I d-don't want to go back yet! Please! Let me stay a little longer!"

"Blaze! What's going on!?" Naruto asked as he gripped her hands, not wanting to let her go.

"It's okay Naruto." Blaze smiled despite the tears flowing. "I want to say...thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for accepting me. I promise...we'll meet again! I don't know when! And I don't know how! But we will!"

Naruto's eyes widened as Blaze's hand disappeared and she began to float away. "BLAZE!" He cried out to her, tears flowing as he reached out to her.

"NARUTO!" Blaze cried back as she reached her hand out to him before she vanished into the sunset as a crying Naruto watched in shock.  
**  
*Flashback Ends***

* * *

"I went to the Hokage and told him about it and he sent some shinobk out to look for her. I couldn't eat, sleep, or nothing until I knew they found her and she was safe. But...when he told me they couldn't find her...I broke down." Naruto said as he looks down. He continued to walk as the others followed.

Kakashi looked at his student sadly, knowing the feeling of losing friend. Sasuke felt sorry for Naruto. And Sakura had a teardrop from her eyes.

"Naruto…" Sakura wiped it.

"After that, I looked for her around the village myself. I even snuck out to go to other villages to find her. But the old man found out and he sent his ninja to come after me. I was constantly being watched over by them for a while until they figured I'd given up, which I never did." Naruto continued. "And then that's when...you guys already know." He said sheepishly, referring to his behavior from back then.

Sasuke and Sakura both tensed up as memories of those times came flooding back, the angry glare that Naruto would send to anyone that would take that charm of his and the vicious beating he would give to anyone who would talk smack about him, his charm or that girl. They still couldn't believe that was the same knucklehead who would always pull pranks.

Kakashi meanwhile was neutral. He was always away on a mission or minding his own business, but he did often see Naruto attacking someone.

"Afterwards…" Naruto spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "I told myself that I would get stronger. I would keep on getting stronger and stronger, so that way I can become a great ninja and keep reaching my dreams of being Hokage…" He looks up at the sky. "And most of all, go out there to find Blaze."

Nobody didn't say anything. If anything, from the way Naruto said that, it sounded like he was in love with this girl, even though he hasn't noticed yet, since he was dense as hell.

"...She must be really special to you, huh?" Kakashi asked, eye smiling at him.

"Yeah." Naruto smiled. "She really is."

"So then why wasn't she at the Academy while you were?" Sasuke asked.

"Hey yeah. I think I remember seeing her one day to bring you something. And that was it." Sakura said, looking up thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I asked her that." Naruto scratched his head. "And she said that she didn't want to be a ninja. When I asked her why she just said-!"

"HM?!" The air around them just shifted all of sudden, making Naruto look around.

"Whoa, did you guys feel that?" He didn't receive an answer. "Guys?" His eyes widened as he saw them frozen in place, surprised expression on their face.

"Huh?" He walks up to Sasuke, waving a hand in his face, stepping back in shock as there was no reaction. "What the…this is...Chaos Control!" He felt a presence behind him, making him look back as a boy, his age, appeared before him, with his back turned.

The boy slowly turns around, showing he was wearing a mask.

"Who…?"

The boy raised his hand and in the next second, Naruto was blasted into the air. The Chaos Emeralds suddenly came out of Naruto, glowing brightly, and went behind him. They opened up a portal and Naruto got sucked in.

"..." The boy looked up at the portal, a look of surprise hidden beneath the mask. "Tch." He vanished, just as time returned to normal.

"Huh?" Squad 7 blinked as they looked around. They all felt something happened to them.

"What just...happened?" Sakura asked as she looked around. "It felt like...the air was just..."

She didn't know how to explain it.

"I felt it too." Sasuke said.

"Where is Naruto?" Kakashi asked as his Genin blinked and looked around.

"He...he was just here." Sakura stated.

"Naruto! Naruto! Where are you?" Sasuke called out.

"Naruto! This isn't funny! Come out now!" Sakura called out.

Kakashi looked around before he heard something fall from the sky. He looks down and saw the Gold Ring and Naruto's lucky charm, making his eye narrow as he picks them up.

What in the world? Did they just _fall_ from the _sky_?

Kakashi looks up before his eye widened when he saw a blue portal in the sky before it vanished. He turns around to Sasuke and Sakura, seeing that they looked up as well with wide eyes before they turned to him and saw the objects as their eyes widened in realization.

"Sensei…?" Sakura asked as he nodded.

"I don't know what happened just now," Kakashi started as he looked back up. "But whatever or whoever made that portal in the sky took Naruto away!"

Sakura and Sasuke gasped. Where did Naruto go?!

* * *

**?**

Naruto groaned as he sat up and shook his head. "What the hell? Who was that guy?!" He stood up and looked around before his eyes widened as he saw a grassy field with lots of flowers, totems, and rivers. He also saw a bunch of Gold Rings.

"WHERE IN THE HELL AM I!?" Naruto shouted in the heavens.

Unknowingly, he was on an unknown island in the middle of the ocean.

* * *

**Ending 1: The Shining Road [English Version]**

**The world around us is so magical**

**But now it's been placed under a spell**

The shot of the Hidden Leaf Village is shown at night. However, the sun starts to rise in the distance.

**My love, come with me and together we shall search to find a charm**

**We'll travel to the land of our dreams where forbidden dreams just may come true**

Naruto is sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's mountain head as he stares at the rising sun. The wind starts to blow as it moved his hair to the side. He looks down at his hand, staring at his star charm, a sad look on his face.

He close his eyes and puts the charm on his chest for a moment, not seeing it glowing slightly.

**When we're alone tomorrow, we will sneak away and secretly meet**

**Up on top of a hill, where there are birds everywhere and we can be all alone**

At the same time, a Princess is seen at her castle, staring at the rising sun as well, a sad look on her face. She walks back to her room and picks up her star charm from her bed, placing it on her chest and closing her eyes, not seeing it glow.

**I know someday, I'll hold your hand. While we sit alone in the morning mist**

**And the seal in our way, of our shining road will be broken**

Back in the Leaf Village, a younger Naruto opens his eyes and saw he was in a mist. He walks forward, looking around in confusion.

Unknown to Naruto, the Princess, who got younger also, appeared behind him and was looking around as well. They both stopped walking as they felt each other's presence.

They slowly looked back at each other with surprised expressions. Naruto ended up smiling happily as he ran to her and grabbed her hand, bringing a smile on the Princess's face. The two ran off together, before they disappeared.

**Till the end of time**

Naruto and the Princess, in their older forms, stood back to back, eyes closed and smiles present on their faces. In their hands, were their star charms.

* * *

**Omake: The Second Emerald**

Naruto on his bed, looking up at the green Chaos Emerald in his hand. He just couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful the emerald looks. It didn't help that it was glowing slightly.

"Man. To think that there were seven of these things in the Hedgehogs' World. Now...they're here in my world." He sat up, looking out the window. "If I managed to find one of them here, then maybe another one might be around here somewhere." He stood up bed and stretched his limbs. "I better hurry and find them before somebody else does."

Naruto jumps out and starts flying through the air. He looks down at the emerald.

"From what I know, I think these may also be like a radar. If I'm lucky, I can use that to see if the other emeralds are here." He grins. "Looks like I'm going on a treasure hunt."

Naruto soon landed on the ground and began to run at high speed, searching for any sign of the emeralds. So far, he hasn't found none. That is until he saw the emerald in his hand glowing slightly.

"Huh?" He looks at it before moving it away from the location, making it's glow die a little. He put it back to the location and saw the glow came back. He looks ahead and saw the Hokage Mountain. He looks at the emerald then back at the mountain before he held it up to one of the stone faces, to see if there was a reaction.

No to the First, no to the Second, no to the Third…it was the Fourth's head that got a reaction as the emerald glowed brighter. He ran to the mountain, avoiding any obstacle in the way before running up the mountain.

Naruto then noticed the emerald kept glowing brighter and brighter, making him. "It's working!" He said happily. "I'm getting close!"

He stops once he went his father's stone head and kept moving forward. He saw the emerald glow at it's brightest before he saw the ground glow yellow.

"X marks the spot!" Naruto exclaimed as he put the green emerald away. He ran to it and starts to dig it out. Once his finger touched something, his eyes went wide in excitement. He grins it tightly before pulling it out. "Nice!"

He now has two Chaos Emeralds! And the one in his hand was yellow. He does a happy dance before flies off and stood in front of his father's stone face, smirking at it.

"Yellow Flash." Naruto held the emerald in it's face. "Yellow Emerald. Thank you, dad!" He soon flies off, smiling happily. "Two down, five to go."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well that's that. The Wave Arc is over.

Now we move onto the brand new filler arc: **Naruto's Grand Adventures! The Three Islands and the Little Planet!** (I know, really long ain't it?)

The arc is an adaptation on Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles (in two parts).

Before you guys say anything, I know about the canon debate that's infamous in the Sonic franchise. And as one of many true Sonic fans, I can agree that CD takes place after 2. Look up Sonic 3 and Knuckles on Sonic Retro and you'll see why as it clearly says that many days have passed since the battle on the Death Egg, so it would make sense that CD takes place during that time.

Also like I said on Sonic Heroes X Powerpuff Girls Z, since these are _my_ stories now, I'll do them my own way while leaving some things the same.

Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja, Sonic Adventure D, The Maelstrom of Chaos, and The Dark Warrior are all remastered/rewritten work of the original stories my brother made, but I am leaving Mega Man Neo alone since all I did was combine the prologue chapters, especially since I fixed all the grammar errors and stuff.

Anyway, enjoy the filler arc! Read and Review! ;-)


	6. Ultimate 6

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1 [V2]: Sonic Drive [English]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera before it changed to show Naruto running with a serious frown on his face.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures appears: One is Naruto giving a thumbs up and grin. The second is Tails, both his human and fox forms together, doing a pose and smiling at the readers. The third is Amy doing a pose, with her hands behind her back, smiling cutely. The fourth is Knuckles grinning and posing. The last pic is Blaze, her arms crossed and back turned to the viewers, looking over her shoulder.

The scene changes to show a falling Chaos Emerald.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appears: One is Dr. Eggman Nega grinning evilly at the viewers. The second are various Badniks appearing comically. The third is Robo Naruto in a pose. The fourth is Metal Naruto in a pose based on Metal Sonic's artwork from Sonic Channel. The last pic is the Masked Boy in a stance of sorts.

The scene changes again to the Leaf Village, more specifically the Hokage Mountain.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The camera zooms in on the mountain before it goes up to the clear blue sky to reveal the title:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

***Instruments***

Naruto was falling down to South Island before he used his Telekinesis to land down as he looks around in shock and disbelief.

He then notices a bunch of Badniks kidnapping Animals, making him frown seriously before he begins to destroy them and then runs ahead.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today**

**The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is running across the Zones of South Island before he stopped and was face to face with Eggman Nega, who was fuming at the sight of him. Naruto smirks and does a Spin Dash and charged at him.

Later, Naruto has the six Chaos Emeralds as they vanished and large flowers appeared on South Island. He grins as he turns to the Tornado.

**If I don't keep running**

**There's no other meaning**

The scene changes to show Naruto landing the Tornado on West Side Island as Tails comes flying towards him but he sneezes as he changed between his fox form and human form before taking on his fox form.

An explosion is heard, making Tails jump up as they turned and saw Eggman Nega laughing evilly before he flies away.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins at Tails as he gave him thumbs up, making him nod happily and the two raced forward across the Zones.

**Biorhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

The scene changes to show Naruto inside the Death Egg as he battled against Robo Naruto before destroying him. The Death Egg shook and Naruto heard something behind him. He looks bafk him and saw the Death Egg Robot getting ready to stomp him.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

Naruto grins as the Chaos Emeralds appeared around him before he absorbed them and transformed into Super Naruto.

He grins up at the Death Egg Robot before he charged at him and out of the Death Egg as it exploded. He winks and gives a thumbs up to the viewers.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack**

**Surpass everything altogether**

**I won't let anyone**

**Or anything get ahead of me**

The scene change to show Naruto running across a green field. Something caught his attention as he stops and looks up, seeing a planet chained to a mountain. He runs up to the mountain till he was at the top.

He Spin Dash down the mountain before he jumped off the ramp and landed on the chain as he ran on it, heading towards the planet.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!**

**Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!**

**"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar**

**That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

Blaze is riding on a boat, looking at the horizon with a soft smile present on her face.

At the Stardust Speedway Zone on Little Planet, the Masked Boy watches on as Naruto and Metal Naruto were racing on a track. Amy Rose is seen crying for head at the end of the track, while Eggman Nega chases after them with a laser beam on his Egg Mobile.

Naruto soon got in front of Metal Naruto as he reached his hand out to Amy.

**Throw boredom away**

**And start running**

The Death Egg is seen falling from the sky and landing on Angel Island, causing it to fall the ocean.

The Guardian of the Island, Knuckles, see's it falling. He runs over to where the Death Egg landed to investigate.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Amy hugging a blushing Naruto happily. The second is Naruto and Tails are flying to Angel Island. The third is Naruto fighting against Knuckles. The fourth is Blaze running across the jungle. The last pic is the Masked Boy leaning on the Altar of the Emeralds.

The scene changes to show the Master Emerald, with the Chaos Emeralds surrounding it. The Chaos Emeralds then transform into Super Emeralds.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is Dr. Nega taking the Master Emerald from its shrine, with Knuckles grabbing onto his Egg Mobile while Naruto and Tails chase after them. The second pic is Naruto and Tails running through the Sky Sanctuary, seeing the Death Egg rising in the background. The third pic is Naruto up in space as he looks back at a giant mech with the Master Emerald inside it, a comical shocked look on his face. The last pic is the mural from the Hidden Palace Zone.

The scene changes to show Naruto giving a mighty roar as his body started to glow in a rainbow color.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

A silhouette of Naruto's new transformation is seen, with his back turned to the readers, a rainbow aura covering his being. The camera zooms in on his back as he looks over his shoulder, showing his now purple eye.

* * *

**Ultimate 6: Naruto the Ninja! Journey Across the South Island!**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto stood grinning as he held a finger up as though he was shaking it. Green Hill Zone was in the background. (Based on US Sonic the Hedgehog Cover)

* * *

"WHERE IN THE HELL AM I!?" Naruto yelled.

His voice echoed out across the entire Island as many Animals went into hiding.

Naruto continued to look around. Why does this place look so familiar? That's when he saw the brown checkered ground, which made his eyes widen.

"This place..."

Memories of the day he met the three Hedgehogs flashed in his mind. It was the moment when Sonic changed the scene of his mind that brought familiarity to this place.

"This is Green Hill! From Sonic's World!" Naruto exclaimed, before he gasped. "Wait, _am_ I in Sonic's World?" He shook his head. "No, that's impossible. The Rings and Chaos Emeralds are from Sonic's World, but they're in my world now, meaning that it's gone." Naruto looks around. "So what's going on?"

He begins to walk around, exploring the place.

"Wow." Naruto said as he touched a flower, smiling. "No wonder Sonic chose this place in my mind. It's beautiful here. Still, I can't believe Green Hill is real. And it's here in my world. Wait till the others here about this, especially Blaze." He stops as his eyes widen. "Blaze…"

Now that's he somewhere unknown and away from the others, he can use this chance to try and find her! Or at least a clue that can point him in the right direction. He reached into his pocket to take out his star charm, only to blink.

"Huh?" Naruto pat his pocket again to make sure his mind wasn't playing any tricks on him. "What?!" He touched all around his pockets and he couldn't feel his star charm anywhere. "No! It's gone!"

What happened to it?!

Naruto looks around the grass to see if it dropped out of his pocket, only to see that it wasn't no where. His eyes widen as the image of the Masked Boy came into his head.

"Shit!" The Fourth Hokage's Legacy cursed through grit teeth. "That guy in the mask! When he blasted me in the sky, it must've fallen out!" He sighed in annoyance. "Damn it. I hope Kakashi-sensei and the others got it." His eyes widened. "Oh shoot! I gotta think of a way back home! Sensei and the others might be worried sick about me!" His eyes widened further. "Oh, I almost forgot! The Chaos Emeralds!"

Naruto closed his eyes to try and summon them but he couldn't. He couldn't feel their power! They're gone!

"No way!" He remembered when the three Emeralds came out and formed a portal behind him after he was blasted away.

Did they disappear after the portal was formed? If that's true then that could only mean that the Chaos Emeralds was the one who brought him here and not the Masked Boy.

"So then...why did they send me here?" Naruto asked. Before he could think this further, he heard noises not too far from his location. He quickly runs there really fast and his eyes widened when he saw a man and his machines trying to capture little animals.

But these animals were...different. While it was true they are animals they just look more...Naruto didn't know how to describe it. They just look different than the ones he saw.

Naruto turns to the man with the rotund egg-shaped body. He wore red pants and leggings which fade to black. He also wore yellow shoes that has black stripes on it, white gloves, a bald head, pince-nez visors with blue lenses, a bright pink nose, and a very bushy gray moustache. He also wears a black shirt, the sleeves being yellow, with an oversized yellow collar, and white buttons on his pants.

He was sitting in a floating mobile machine.

Naruto's eyes widened, with an expression of disbelief. "Dr. Eggman!?" He spoke in a sync voice of Sonic, Shadow and Silver.

He blinks in confusion before placing a hand on his chest. "Huh? Wha…?" Why did he know that man's name? He never met the guy! And why did he hear the Hedgehogs' voices when he spoke the name.

But...he _looks_ like Dr. Eggman, except he looks...older. Naruto doesn't even know who the hell this Dr. Eggman guy is! Yet somehow...he does.

"Get back here you little critters!" 'Dr. Eggman' laughed as he chased after them. "All I want is to put you inside my Badniks and make them powerful!"

That just made the Animals cry out as they ran faster, though some of them were captured by his robots.

"Not on my watch!" Naruto said, ignoring his previous thoughts for now, as he did a Spin Dash and charged at the robots.

"Yes! Good my little Badniks! Gather them!" 'Dr. Eggman' exclaimed in excitement before he heard something. "Hm?" He turns to it and his eyes widened as he saw a yellow blur come past him, spinning his mobile in place as he screamed, not hearing the destruction of his precious robots.

Once he stopped, eggs were floating around him. He shook his head and a shocked expression appeared on his face. "WHAT!?" His robots were destroyed as pieces were all over the place. "My Badniks! Who would dare destroy my precious Badniks?!"

"That would be me."

'Eggman' turned around and his eyes widened as a child was there, arms crossed, a glare on his face and the Animals hiding behind him.

"What? Who are you?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the world's Ultimate Ninja and future Hokage!" Naruto introduced himself. "Now what do you think you're doing Egghead?"

'Eggman' raised an eyebrow at the 'ninja' part but a tick mark formed on his head at the nickname. "Egghead?! How dare you!" He stood up and bowed mockingly. "My name is Nega. **Doctor Eggman Nega**, the greatest scientific genius in the world! If you please."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Eggman...Nega? At least he got the name right but that still leaves on _how_ he knows it when he haven't met him, and for some reason he feels like groaning at his self proclaim title. Plus his name was mouthful. "Sure, whatever you say, Egghead. Now what are you doing to these animals?"

"Why I need these Animals to power up my Badniks!" Nega then glared at him. "But because of your interference and destroying my Badniks, I lost them!"

"Yeah? Well good thing I _did_ show up." Naruto said, glaring at him. "Is that why you're here? Just to kidnap the Animals and put them inside your robots?"

"Oh no, no, no my boy. Well, that's just a bonus." Nega said as Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You see I came to South Island to find and gather the legendary miracle gems, the Chaos Emeralds!"

Naruto's eyes widened. _"He knows about the Chaos Emeralds? And they're all on _this _Island?! But that's impossible! Nobody in this world knows about them yet! They didn't even show up that long!"_

There's no way. There's no way that's possible. Him knowing Eggman's name, that strange feeling his chest, Eggman Nega himself knowing about the Chaos Emeralds. Could Nega actually be...

"Ah, it would seem you know about the Emeralds." Nega said as he noticed Naruto's silence.

"Yeah. And what if I do?" Naruto crossed his arms.

"So you _do_ know about them." Nega smirked "That's good! Good for me that is! Now tell me, where exactly can I find them on this Island?"

Naruto blinks as he stares at Dr. Nega. "Um, I don't know."

"...what?"

"Dude, I got separated from my Team and was teleported here against my will just now. Like I don't even know where the hell this Island is." Naruto deadpanned.

"..." Nega was silent before he coughed. "Well that doesn't matter!" He grinned. "Because once I discover the Emeralds' location, I will use their powers to take over the world or better yet...I'll destroy it!"

"Like hell I'll let that happen!" Naruto shouted as he threw several shurikens at Nega but his Mobile had a shield around it and it deflected the shurikens.

"HO HO HO HO HO!" Nega laughed. "Sorry Ninja Boy, but you don't have a choice in the matter!" He then flies away. "I'll make sure to destroy your village first!"

Naruto growled as Eggman Nega disappeared. "So he's gonna use the Emeralds to destroy this world, huh."

Nega _definitely_ don't know who he's messing with. He grins confidently. Stopping an evil man from taking over or destroying the world? This sounds like a good excuse to have some adventure _and_ save the world at the same time!

"Heh! Okay Eggy! Let's go!"

**Music: Green Hill Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

Naruto runs down a straightforward path, crossing a bridge as he gathered some of the Rings that were floating around. He stopped as he saw a Fish Badnik jump out of the water and tried to get a _bite_ out of him.

"HEY!" Naruto used his Homing Attack and destroyed it, along with the second one that jumped out, releasing the Animals that were trapped inside.

"Okay, if I see any Badniks, destroy them." Naruto told himself as he continued on his way.

Naruto made it to a hill top before he used his Spin Dash to make it to the top, collecting some Rings in thr process.

"Man, this place is beautiful, despite the fact that these Robots are here." Naruto commented before he punched a flying Badnik, destroying it. He grinned as he saw a loop, making him smirk. "Boo ya!"

He went through the loop, making him cheer.

"The others are gonna be so _very_ jealous when they hear about this!" Naruto laughed.

He looks ahead, seeing the Robots were now coming at him. He grins as he used his quickly runs past them in an instant. The next, they exploded.

"Now I need to find out where to find the Chaos Emeralds on this Island." Naruto said as he ran forward, grabbing a few Rings. He used saw a Spring and he jumped on it as it launched him up on a moving platform, he looks down seeing that there was a pit full of spikes, making him wince.

"Do not wanna go down there." Naruto said as he used his telekinesis to move faster before he got off the platform and took off running.

"Now back to what I was talking about. The Emeralds could...be...anywhere...what the?"

Naruto stopped talking as he saw a floating Giant Ring right next to a sign post, with a picture of Eggman Nega on it.

"Okay, that's weird. The Giant Ring is weird and the Sign Post is ugly. I'll fix that!" He said as he ran past the Sign, making it spin in place.

It stopped as Naruto's image appeared on it.

"There we go!" Naruto turns to the Ring. "Now, what's up with this Giant Ring? I wonder..." He jumps to it and the moment he did, the Ring transported him.

* * *

**Music: Special Stage [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

"Whoa!" Naruto screamed as he was floating in an unknown place. He looks up at the sky as it keeps changing shapes. He looks around and saw he was inside a crystal maze...and it keeps spinning around.

"What the heck is this place!?" Naruto asked as he looked around. He gasped as he sensed a Chaos Emerald nearby. "A Chaos Emerald is in here? I get it! The Chaos Emeralds must be inside this...this...Secret Zone and Nega doesn't know about it!"

Naruto grins as he used his Spin Jump to make his way through the rotating crystal maze.

Ae he navigated through the Maze, he was surprised to find Rings inside there, so he made a grab for them while also following the signal to the Emerald.

Naruto found the Emerald but it was hidden behind some colored blocks. So he used his Homing Attack to destroy the blocks and grabbed the Emerald.

"Yes!" Naruto cheered as he held a blue Chaos Emerald in his hand. He looks around him before he gasped as the maze spun faster and a bright light appeared making him cover his eyes.

**Music Ends**

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and saw he was back in Green Hill Zone. He looks down at his hand and saw the Chaos Emerald.

"Okay, now I know that the Emeralds are in that Secret Zone. All I gotta do is just find those Giant Rings and they'll take me there." Naruto said as the Emerald disappeared within him.

"Hm?" Naruto heard something and he looks ahead to find Eggman Nega ahead of him. "NEGA!" He shouted as he gave chase.

Nega turned around and he had shocked expression on his face. "You! How did you get here quickly!?"

"I'm just too fast for ya Doc!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped up and attacked him from behind.

"OW! HEY!" Nega yelled. "Alright boy, if it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get!"

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

A giant brown checkered ball came out of the bottom of the Mobile. Nega then swung the giant ball around, hoping to smash Naruto with it, but he managed to dodge.

Naruto jumps on a platform and jumps off of it as his hands was covered in sparks. **"Chaos Spear!"** He launched a barrage of yellow spears at Nega's Mobile as it shook from the damage.

"Why you...!" Nega spun his Mobile really fast as he charged at Naruto.

"Whoa!" Naruto quickly dodged out of the way as the ball destroyed the platform he was standing on. He watched as the Mobile did a flip and the ball was coming at him, wanting to smash him.

The Ultimate Ninja dodged again as he jumped on the ball and used his Homing Attack to hit the Mobile multiple times.

"That does it!" Nega pushed a button and a second ball came out. He then charged at Naruto, so he can smash him with both balls.

Naruto grinned cockily as he easily used his reflex and acrobatic skills to easily dodge them. He jumps on one of the balls and began to mock Nega by making goofy faces at him, making a vein pop out of the mad scientist's head.

"Little brat!" Nega's eyes widened as Naruto easily caught a ball in his hand before he pulled it out of the Mobile. "What!?"

"Heh! Catch Egg Face!" Naruto threw the ball at the Mobile, causing it to be badly damage.

Because of that, many explosions were seen as the Mobile got badly damaged and the second ball got destroyed.

"This isn't over yet boy!" Eggman Nega swore as he flew away.

**Music: Green Hill Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

"Believe me. This is far from over." Naruto said seriously as Nega vanished from sight. He looks ahead and saw large Capsule.

"The hell is a Capsule doing here?" Naruto asked. He runs to it and examined. He looks up at the switch on top of it as he jumps on it.

The Capsule exploded and the Animals came out of it.

"So that's it." Naruto realized. "This Capsule was used as a containment for those little Animals. That way, Nega would take the Animals and put them inside his Robots. Now I know what else to find on this Island." He looks up and another Giant Ring appeared.

"Time for the next Emerald!" Naruto jumps inside the Ring as it vanished.

* * *

**Music: Marble Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

Naruto jumped out of the Giant Ring as it vanished. "Two down, five to go." He then runs ahead a path as he looks around at the scenery, seeing some ancient marble buildings.

"What's up with this-OH SHIT!" Naruto quickly jumped to a platform to avoid getting melted alive by the lava. "Damn I did not-OH COME ON!"

The platform he was on began to burn itself as it was floating in the lava. But because of his weight, the lava began to burn the grass.

"SHIT!" Naruto jumped on more platforms till he made it out the lava river as he landed on the ground. "Whew that was close." He looks down at the lava. "I gotta be more careful. Who knows if more lava are around." He turns around and runs off.

**Music End**

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village**

"What?!" A shocked Hiruzen asked.

"Naruto is gone!?" Iruka exclaimed.

Squad 7 has returned from their mission and Kakashi gave the report. Hiruzen was disappointed in himself for not realizing about that and was slightly disappointed at the Squad that didn't return immediately. But then again, Naruto was the one who convinced them to keep going because Tazuna needed help and he wasn't going to just abandon those who need it, which made Hiruzen inwardly smile proudly. That boy has such a heart of gold.

However, Hiruzen noticed their missing teammate and he asked them where Naruto was.

Iruka thought out loud that Naruto was probably at the Ramen Stand, but the mood suddenly dropped as he and the Hokage saw the expressions on Sasuke and Sakura's face while Kakashi had a deep frown on his face.

Kakashi told Sasuke and Sakura to head home and he explained to them what happened to Naruto as they were on their way here.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded. "I don't know how it happened but one second he was there but the next he wasn't." He reached into his pocket and took out the Gold Ring and star charm. He sat them in front of the Hokage. "This was all that was left."

The Hokage looked at the Gold Ring with a slightly confused expression before he looked to the star charm, making his eyes saddened as he remembered a younger Naruto rushing into his office and introducing his new best friend.

Iruka looked at the items as well and he had a confused expression. Where did Naruto find that Gold Ring? And that Star Charm...why does it look...that's right! It's that Charm that Naruto had brought with during those days at the Academy.

He remembered how Naruto had stopped pulling pranks for some reason and would simply stare at that charm, a dead look in his eyes, during the whole class, not paying attention to any lessons that were given.

And when someone tried to take it from him, be it an adult or child, civilian or shinobi, he would violently attack them, leading some to go to the hospital. Hell even Iruka tried it to take it at some point and Naruto _viciously_ attacked _him_ in front of the whole class. Naruto even tried to stab him in the eye with his own kunai before he got held back by a nearby Instructor. Only to prove bad when Naruto almost _broke_ the man's arm off. But before Naruto could do that, he saw the charm on the floor and let him go to get it. He walked back to his desk as though nothing happened, shocking them and the whole class.

Iruka still remembers them. Those cold, lifeless eyes of Naruto's. Those were the eyes of someone who had lost someone very important to them and was angry at the whole world.

Whenever Naruto was like that, it literally took several Chūnin, along with little Jōnin, to come and calm him down before the Hokage came in, but it just kept getting worse as Naruto was moving all over the place, taking them down. And this kid was _still_ in the Academy.

But then again, like before in the classroom, there were times that after Naruto is finished attacking whoever took the star charm, he would pick it up and walk away, glaring angrily at anyone who would _dare_ try to take it.

Iruka shivered from those memories as he remembered the rumors going around saying that when Naruto attacks those that touched his star charm, he had red eyes with a slit pupil. They even said he had faint red chakra flowing out of him.

Iruka won't lie but he himself saw those eyes as well, he just didn't want to admit it.

"Lord Hokage, I have a question." Kakashi spoke up. "And this might be...bizarre."

"Yes, what is it?" Hiruzen asked, curious about this bizarre question.

"Well...is there someone who has the ability to stop time?" Kakashi asked.

Hiruzen and Iruka blinked at the question. "Your pardon?" Hiruzen asked.

"I can't explain it, but before Naruto vanished, we had felt this strange sudden feeling. Like the air around us just _shifted_. When the feeling vanished we saw Naruto was gone in an instant." Kakashi told him. "I saw Naruto's things drop from the sky and picked them up before looking up. I saw a blue portal in the sky before it vanished. Sasuke and Sakura can vouch for me as they saw it too. I think that's what happened to Naruto."

Hiruzen was confused now. A blue portal appearing in the sky? He then had a look of understanding. "And you think that whoever made that portal in the sky to make Naruto disappear had the ability to stop _time_ to do so?"

"It's all I could think of." Kakashi admitted.

"Hmm..." Hiruzen hummed. A Shinobi with the ability to stop time? That's just impossible. There was no Shinobi in recorded history with the ability to stop _time_ itself.

But Kakashi was right. It was the only logical explanation. Plus as years go the Shinobi World is changing after all, with young Shinobi with new amazing gifts that's never been seen before are popping up. So it's possible.

"Lord Third! Please allow me and a Squad to go out and search for Naruto!" Iruka pleaded.

"As much as it pains me to say this," Hiruzen started. "I'm afraid I must decline."

"But Lord Third...!"

"Think about it for a second Iruka." Kakashi spoke up. "We are dealing with an unknown Shinobi, who probably has the ability to stop _time_ itself. This same Shinobi is also the one who transported Naruto somewhere far away."

"Kakashi's right." Hiruzen nodded. "Naruto could be _anywhere_ around the world. For all we know, he could be in another village or another Country, maybe some even place else that we have no knowledge of."

* * *

In the Spring Yard Zone, Naruto was in his Spin Ball as he was forcibly being bounced back and forth between the bumpers.

"A-A-A-ACHOO!" Naruto suddenly sneezed as he got of his Spin Ball but was still being bounced. "This. Is. RIDICULOUS! OOF!"

* * *

"We also have no clue of his whereabouts or whoever it was that took him."

"Lord Third..." Iruka said, eyes widened. "Are you saying that we should just-"

"No! Absolutely not!" The Third exclaimed in anger, making Iruka flinch slightly. He sighed. "I'm saying, we just have to hope that Naruto finds his way back home to the Village."

"Or..." Kakashi said as he stared at the star charm. "Wherever Naruto ended up, he might be using this chance to try and find his childhood friend."

Hiruzen's eyes widened while Iruka had a confused expression.

"What are you talking…?" Iruka's eyes widened as memories cane flooding in his head. He briefly recalled seeing Naruto playing with someone, a girl, a long time ago. She would even be in front of the Academy when the day was over and the two would leave together.

"I see..." Hiruzen said sadly, a knowing expression on his face. "So he told you about her."

"Yes." Kakashi nodded, looking down. "Naruto really miss her."

"Of course he does." Hiruzen smiled softly as he picked up the purple star. "After all, she was the first person to accept Naruto for who he is, and the two of them formed an incredible that I haven't seen in years."

_"So then...that girl from before really was Naruto's…?"_ Iruka asked.

It actually did make sense, now that he thought about it. Naruto looked _very_ excited to leave whenever the school day ended. He always assumed he was off pulling more of those pranks, but now to think that Naruto actually made a friend, and it was that girl from before, filled Iruka up with joy. His eyes widened in realization.

"Wait a second, if that girl from before was Naruto's friend then that means…" Iruka looked at the star charm. "That star charm..."

"Yes. That was a gift Naruto got from his friend." Kakashi said.

"On his birthday to be exact." Hiruzen added. "_Before_ she vanished two days later." That made Iruka silently gasped in surprise.

"I see…" He said softly, understanding shown in his eyes, as he turns to Hiruzen. "Then Naruto's violent behavior from back then…"

"That's right." The God of Shinobi sighs and tilts his hat down. "To be honest with you both, because of that violent behavior, Naruto was _this_ close to releasing the Nine-Tails." Iruka gasped while Kakashi narrowed his eye. "I know this because I and a few others saw it first hand when he unleased it's power on our shinobi when they tried to stop him."

An image of a feral Naruto covered in red chakra appeared in Hiruzen's mind. He picks up the star charm, showing it to the other two, or more specifically showing it to Iruka.

"It's thanks to this star charm that we managed to calm Naruto down and cease the Nine-Tails' influence on him. But because of the villagers and some of the children taking it in front of him or even talking about her, it kept getting worst."

"_...and I'm one of them."_ Iruka thought sadly as he looked down.

"If I recall Lord Third, didn't you went out somewhere with Naruto when it _started_ to get worst?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Yes. Me and Naruto had a little heart to heart." Hiruzen smiled. "After that, he returned to being the happy ball of sunshine that we know and love, determined to finding his friend when he becomes a ninja and reach his dream."

Iruka looked back at the item. So _that's_ why Naruto was so protective of that star charm and became the way he was. It was a gift from his precious friend. On his birthday no less. It also explained that dead look in his eyes from back then and why he was so..._quiet_, which wasn't Naruto-like at all.

His best friend had vanished. Because of it, Naruto must've been deeply hurt and saddened by it and tried to leave the village to go find her, only to be brought back. He couldn't even imagine what Naruto had gone through. The first friend he ever made, the bond he formed with her, just vanishing all of sudden? No wonder Naruto was like that and became violent to everybody, him included.

And now he's out there in the unknown and is no doubt looking for her.

Iruka looks up at the sky from the window. _"Please be safe Naruto..." _

* * *

**South Island: Labyrinth Zone**

**Music: Labyrinth Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

Naruto held his breath as he continued to run underwater.

_"Out of all the Zones I've been through, this is probably the hardest one."_ He thought with a half lidded expression. He saw a Fish Robot charging at him before he used his Spin Attack to destroy it.

He'll admit though the last two Zones he went to were interesting, especially the Spring Yard Zone, though that Zone was really annoying.

The Marble Zone was extremely hot, probably because of the amount of lava that was there! Plus he had to underground at one point and he used his Chakra to stick to the ceiling because of the lava river that was there.

But he managed to get out underground and found a Giant Ring along with the same Sign Post like in Green Hill Zone. So he changed the Sign Post and entered the Giant Ring.

He got the third Chaos Emerald after that and he managed to find Eggman Nega. And he had a Robot that he uses to spit fire at him. But hey it was easy and he managed to destroy it.

Nega escaped again and he another one of those Capsules there. He destroyed it releasing the Animals and jumped to the Giant Ring.

With the fourth Emerald in hand, Naruto found himself in the Spring Yard Zone. The Zone was fun to be in, it was just annoying because of those Bumper thingies that were all over the place.

But hey, he managed to make through in the end and did the same thing he did in the last two Zones. Change the Sign Post, enter the Giant Ring and got the fifth Emerald. Then he fought Nega, destroyed the Capsule, and exited the Zone.

And that's how he found himself in the most difficult Zone. The Labyrinth Zone.

Naruto thought it would be easy just like the rest of the Zones. But he was wrong. He was so very wrong. He found himself trapped inside this maze-like Zone and it was starting to annoy him. He found a Sign Post but there was no Giant Ring, so he continued onwards.

Naruto's face beginning to turn purple and his eyes turned comically. _"AIR! AIR! I NEED AIR!"_ He looks and saw a large bubble. He quickly runs to it and gulped it in his mouth. _"Whew! That was close."_

The Ultimate Ninja looked up and his eyes widened when he saw the surface. _"Thank you God!" _He jumps on the platforms above his head, destroying the robots.

Naruto jumps out the water and lands on a platform, soaked to the bone. He spun around really fast before he stopped. He was dry now but his hair was an afro.

"I hate this Zone." Naruto said blankly. "I really do." He shook his head as his hair returned to normal.

He heard noises above him, making him look up. "NEGA!" He jumps all the way up and attacked Nega's Egg Mobile, as he called it. He landed a direct hit from below causing it to shake.

"What!?" Nega looked down in shock as he saw Naruto using his telekinesis to float, watching him as he went higher. "No! Not you again!"

"Yes, me again." Naruto grinned as he used his Homing Attack to attack Nega again, making the Egg Mobile shake again.

"Knock it off!" Nega exclaimed. "OOF!" His Egg Mobile got hit again. "Can't you see I'm trying to escape!?"

"Escape what? This butt kicking?" Naruto grinned as he attacked again.

"No escape that!" Nega pointed below them, making Naruto look down as his eyes widen comically.

The whole passage was flooding below them! And it was flooding really fast!

"Holy crap!" Naruto exclaimed. He could clearly see that was no air bubbles, meaning that if he were to fall in, then it's game over for him.

Naruto looked up at Nega and was about to attack him again but stopped when he had to avoid a spike coming from one the platforms in the way. Another reason why he hates this Zone; Traps. All these Goddamn traps everywhere.

First, this Zone was a maze, then there were traps and now the place is about to be flooded?!

This Zone was a pain in the ass!

"HO HO HO HO!" Nega yelled as he disappeared from sight.

"Hey!" Naruto quickly gave chase, making sure he avoided the spears and fire spitting statues while making sure to stay away from the water.

Naruto was almost close to Nega and he attacked him once more, making his Egg Mobile explode as he screamed while Naruto landed on the platform.

"NOOOOO! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Nega yelled as he escaped the passageway, with Naruto following after him.

Naruto was staring up at Nega before rockets came out of his Egg Mobile, making his eyes widen, and Nega blasted away past a Capsule.

"The man's machine sure moves fast." Naruto commented before he smirked. "But I move faster!" He jumps on the Capsule, destroying it and releasing the Animals before he jumped off it and dashed to the next Zone.

And hopefully more of those Giant Rings.

**Music Ends**

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Sol Kingdom**

"You look beautiful as always Princess Blaze." A maid said as she walked right next to her.

Blaze sighed and looked down at her attire. She wore a purple ball gown with a petal overskirt, a ruffled white petticoat, and long triangular sleeves.

"Of course." She said.

Blaze and the young maid were walking to the Throne Room, the maid with a smile and Blaze with an indifferent expression.

It was time to see what her father want. She usually likes to be alone but she thought having company would be nice for a change.

"I do wonder what the King would want though." The maid continued, looking up curiously. "It isn't like him to call you. And he looked really happy too."

Blaze sighed but felt her lips twitch upward slightly. This maid is just too...cheery. A serious frown came afterwards. She was right. Why did her father seem happy to be calling her? A little _too_ happy to say the least.

It's most likely a marriage proposal.

Since she's at that age, it would be time for her to find a suitable partner for her. It's been that way for a long time. But she knew that those suitors would only want to marry her because they wanted to have _them_.

The Sol Emeralds.

The greatest treasure of her Kingdom. Them along with the Jeweled Scepter. Each Sol Emerald possesses unlimited amounts of great power and are sought out by heroes and villains alike. It is said that the Sol Emeralds have the ability to transform one's thoughts into power but is unknown to what extent, which is why many want them.

However that was many many years ago.

During times of war, before the Shinobi World was even born, the Sol Kingdom has been cut off from the rest of the world. It doesn't even exist on the map.

After all, during those times many people wanted to have power to win those wars or have it for their own selfish gain. So they sought out the Sol Emeralds.

But it never came to that.

The reason?

It's because for many centuries the Sol Emeralds always had a Guardian to protect them. And those Guardians? They were of Royal Blood to the Kingdom.

As the centuries passed a Guardian has fallen, either by dying to protect the Sol Emeralds from outsiders or by old age.

But that wasn't the end. As the Royal Lineage continued on for centuries so has a new Guardian and they continued to protect the Emeralds to this day.

And who was the current Guardian?

It was Princess Blaze herself.

As per custom, the princess of the kingdom has held duty of guarding the Sol Emeralds, meaning that Blaze's mother, her grandmother and those former Guardians of the past were princesses when they guarded the Sol Emeralds before their time came.

After her grandmother passed before she was born, her mother was an appointed Guardian and she took the role very seriously as well as her role as Queen.

Just like her.

But sadly, her time has passed a long time ago and her father, the King, took it upon himself to guard the Sol Emeralds. However, due to him using a very special power of his, one that Blaze has not inherited due to her connection with the Sol Emeralds, he aged faster than normally. This gift also helped him create a barrier around the Kingdom, so that way no outsider can know of their existence. However, the barrier is starting to weaken each day.

After all the outside world is ruled by shinobi, assassins who move in the shadows and use an energy known as Chakra to do amazing techniques.

If those shinobi find out about their Kingdom and the Sol Emeralds then war would break out throughout the nation.

And he didn't want that to happen. And despite Blaze being the appointed guardian, he never wanted his daughter to suffer such a burden, _especially_ after her mother died.

So he will protect the Sol Emeralds. Until his last breath.

"We're here Your Highness." The maid interrupting Blaze's thoughts.

The two were in front of a door which led to the throne room. Blaze turns to the maid.

"Thank you for escorting me here." She said.

"Of course Your Highness." The Maid bowed before she turned and left.

Blaze rolled her eyes in annoyance before she turned to the door and entered. She looks up at the throne.

There in front of her, sat her father, the King. He has gray hair with tints of purple in there, along with a beard. He wears a white suit with thin, black stripes, and a red cape, and white shoes. He wore a crown and by his side was crane.

He smiled softly as he saw his daughter. "Blaze..."

"Hello father." Blaze smiled softly as she bowed to him. "Is there a reason why you have called for me?"

"Yes." The King nodded as he stood up, grabbing his cane. He walks down as Blaze had a worried frown. "Walk with me Child." He walks past her as she turns around and walked right next to him.

"As you already know, you are the current Guardian of the Sol Emeralds. Seven gems with unlimited powers beyond the which we have ever seen."

"Yes, I know of this." Blaze nodded.

"But right now, I decided to ignore the customs of the kingdom and to protect the Emeralds. And once I pass then the barrier I placed around the Kingdom will disappear, letting the Shinobi World know of our existence." The King continued. "I have been thinking about this long and hard, and I believe it's time for us to become allies to these shinobi."

"Father?" Blaze asked in a surprised tone.

"However, as of now there are shinobi villages and Countries out there with a corrupted leader and I worry that we might make friends with the wrong people." The King said sadly, before he smiled at his daughter. "That is until now I remembered."

"Hm?" Blaze blinked.

The King reached into his pocket and took out a picture, which made Blaze gasp. It was a picture of her and Naruto together.

"A long time ago, when you ran away after your mother passed, you somehow ended up in a shinobi village. You told me this was called, the Village Hidden in the Leaf, correct?"

"Y...yes father. Again I must apologize for my behavior back then." Blaze said as she looked down but the King shook his head.

"Don't be my dear. In fact, I'm really happy." The King said as he looked at the picture. "You made a friend in that Village. One whom you formed a bond with and can trust. I believe you told me that he was the first person to accept you as you are despite your gift, yes?"

"Yes, that's right." Blaze smiled softly as she remembered that day. "At first, he thought it was a Jutsu, a technique that the ninja of his village uses, that I was doing but when I explained to him it wasn't..." A younger Naruto had an awe expression with his eyes replaced as stars. She silently giggled. "He looked like a child that's been giving a birthday present and was amazed by it."

"As he should." The King chuckled. "After all, you did inherited your gift from your mother. Now I believe you met the Kage of that Village yes?"

Blaze nodded as she remembered meeting the Third Hokage. "He's a kind old man who cares a lot about the people of his village and does whatever he can to help them, especially Naruto. It shows how much he loves them all and how far he's willing to protect them."

The King smiled and nodded. "Yes. Those are the signs of true ruler. Kindness, compassion and protective of their homes and people. The Third Hokage of the Leaf Village is a trustworthy ally, which is why I want you to return there."

Blaze almost tripped in her step as she looks at her father in shock."I...I beg your pardon father?"

"You heard me Dear." The King laughed softly. "From one of our travelers in the outside world, I heard that these...Chūnin Exams were coming up. The Chūnin Exams, from what I understand, is an exam where Genin, who are young ninja your age, are given the chance to show their strength to see if they are worthy to move to the Chunin Rank. But it's not just strength alone. They must also have knowledge and skills."

Blaze had a look of understanding of that. Of course it would make sense for the Exams to be based around that. Being a Genin and becoming a Chunin is like your graduating. However in order to see if you are worthy of being a Chūnin, they must test you and see for themselves if you have what it takes.

"Not only that, but he also told me that the exams would be held at the Hidden Leaf Village this year and a lot of other ninja from various Villages will be there." The King continued. "I would like for you to go there to represent our Kingdom, even though we aren't part of the Shinobi Nations."

"W-What?!" Blaze asked wide eyed. "B...but father what about you? You are the King, surely you can go."

The King stroked his beard. "You are correct about that. However I must stay here in the Kingdom and watch over the Sol Emeralds. Besides..." He looks to his daughter and winked to her. "This could be your chance to meet your friend."

Blaze softly gasped at that. T-that's right! With this chance, she'll be able to meet Naruto again! She already started to wonder what he might be like after all these years. Knowing him he's probably still pulling pranks on everybody and eating those Ramen. She giggled softly as her cheeks turned red.

The King looked at his daughter, when he heard her giggle, and smiled when he saw her cheeks turn to red. So he was right after all. This Naruto might be a _special_ friend to his daughter.

"W-When shall I leave father?" Blaze asked.

"You can leave right now if you want. The Exams won't begin until the first day of July." The King replied.

Blaze nodded before she noticed that they were in the Castle Garden. Wow, they were so wrapped up in the conversation they didn't know where they walking to.

"Oh my it seems we talked a lot." The King said as he noticed the Garden. He then turns to her smiling happily. "Well then hurry along my daughter. We wouldn't want to keep your friend waiting do we?"

Blaze was silent before she went and hugged her father, making him smile softly as he returned it. "Thank you daddy..." She whispered. "I love you..."

"I love you too my dear." The King said as Blaze took off, the King watching as she does. He looks down at the picture, staring at the young happy boy with a smile. "Naruto Uzumaki...to think a descendent of the Uzumaki Clan still lives." He close his eyes as an image of a younger him meeting a man, with red hair, appeared in his head. "Thank you very much for befriending my daughter. It's no wonder the Sol Emeralds brought you two together."

* * *

**South Island: Scrape Brain Zone**

"Sheesh! This place is crazy!" Naruto exclaimed as he dodged an incoming giant saw.

The **Scrap Brain Zone**.

Now this was the most challenging Zone ever, due to it's many traps and a large amount of Robots. Naruto quickly deduced that this was Nega's Base. There were also factories all over the place meaning that's where the Robots were being made. Once he defeats Nega then he'll blow this place up.

The last Zone he went to, the Star Light Zone, that was probably the most coolest Zone he ever been to! All the tracks also made him go faster and faster. It was also easier to collect Rings and destroy Robots when he runs past them. But he did end up hitting a wall and fell on top of those exploding Robots and lost some Rings in process. But hey it was still fun!

He also managed to find a Giant Ring that were in the Zone and went through them. Now he's got six of the seven Emeralds. Another Giant Ring hadn't appeared since then.

_"So then where the hell is the 7th Emerald?"_ Naruto asked himself as he jumped to avoid a flamethrower before he destroyed more Robots. _"I know I managed to get six through the Secret Zone. But the Labyrinth Zone didn't have any Giant Rings. Stupid maze." _

Naruto grabbed a few Rings and slid down to avoid a giant saw. _"Does Nega have it? No. If he did I would've sensed, especially when I fought him in Star Light Zone." _He looks up and saw an entrance to a base. "Time for the final showdown Nega!" He grinned as he Spin Dashed inside, avoiding the traps. He stopped when he saw Nega standing in front of him, on the other side of the doorway, a grin on his face and a switch in front of him.

"Welcome to my humble abode Naruto." Nega said. "How do you like it?"

"I'm no contractor but this place doesn't look up to code, Doc." Naruto then smirked. "But don't worry once I beat you and blow it up then everything will be nice and peachy." He then Spin Dash at Nega but then a green energy wall appeared between the two knocking him back.

"Okay, didn't see that coming." Naruto groaned.

"Sorry my boy." Nega said. "But lately you've been a real pain in my egg. Because of you I wasn't able to locate one Chaos Emerald on this Island and it is due to your interference."

Naruto frowned. Looks like he was right. Nega doesn't have the last Emerald.

"But no worries. Once I'm through with you, I'll be able to locate the Emeralds." Nega continued as he grinned. "So until then...have a nice FALL!"

Nega jumped on the switch in front and the floor beneath Naruto's feet collapsed.

"Oh...CRAP!" Naruto screamed as he fell into the darkness.

Naruto had a half-lidded expression on his face as he laid down on the floor. "'Fall'. _Pun_. Funny." He got up and shook his head. He walks ahead and he an annoyed expression. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me..."

He was in the Labyrinth Zone again. Except this place was...gray. And it looked really difficult than the last one.

"Alright..." Naruto cracked his neck and grinned. "Let's get this over with."

He dashed forward as he got through the weird Labyrinth. He destroyed a bunch of robots that were down there, releasing the Animals that were trapped. He even avoided some spikes that were in his way.

He stopped however as his eyes widened comically. "The water is purple. Water _shouldn't _be purple." He looks across it and saw the path to move forward. He looks down at the purple water. He sniffs it but then turned sickly green.

"It even smells purple." The Ultimate Ninja stated. "And I don't even know _what_ purple smells like."

A cyan aura appeared around Naruto as he flew across the purple water before he landed on the path and ran forward.

As he did, he destroyed some more Robots and was getting ready to get out of the pathway when the purple water started to rise faster.

Naruto had no choice but to cover his breath as he was in the water. But he used his Spin Dash to get out of the pathway and out the water. He spat the water on the ground and shook his body.

"Step one: Kick Eggman's ass. Step two: Find a way off this Island. And step three: Take a nice long shower. The stink will come off." He said as he looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling. A smirk appeared on his face as he used his Spin Dash to get out underground and back up to Nega's Base.

**Music: Final Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

"Where are you Nega!?" Naruto asked as he made it out the fake Labyrinth Zone and was in a laboratory.

Once he made on the edge of the platform, a force field appeared right behind Naruto. He looks behind it, eyes narrowed before he turned back around and moved forward.

He screeched to a halt however when he saw an engine piston come down from above him, making his eyes widen comically as his nose touched it. He quickly jumps back just as the piston went back up to the ceiling.

"What the hell was that!?" Naruto asked in shocked.

"_That_ was my Engine Piston." Nega's voice was heard. "And now it's time I turn you into a Ninja Pancake!"

Naruto felt vibration, making him look down on the floor before his eyes widen when he saw it was slightly moving up.

"Whoa!" He quickly jumped out of the way as two Pistons came out at the same time.

However, one of them had Nega inside it. He quickly used his Spin Dash and attacked the Piston, but it quickly went back down.

"Hey!"

Naruto heard movement close to him. He looks down saw he was standing between two large circles. One was coming up and the other was coming down. He stood in a straight stiff posture as the Pistons came down on Naruto and missed him.

"Having trouble Naruto?" Nega asked, from within one of the Pistons. He laughed mockingly as the Pistons returned.

"Get back out here and fight like a man!" Naruto exclaimed as he stomped on the Pistons. He heard noises coming from above him and he looked up in exasperation as he saw electric generators charging up.

"Of course." The generators sent four spark balls at Naruto as he quickly dodged them. "Okay, time for me to stop playing." He held his hand out as a Chaos Emerald appeared. He smirked as he heard the Pistons getting ready to come out.

"**Chaos…"** The Pistons came out. "**Control!"**

**Music Ends**

Time had stopped. Naruto looked to one of the Pistons and saw Nega inside, grinning evilly. Naruto grinned as he did multiple Homing Attacks on the Piston. In a blur, he then launched a bunch of **Chaos Spears **at it before he stopped to charge it the last one up. He then threw the biggest Spear at it making it become more damaged.

Time was about to return normal, so Naruto quickly took a marker out and draw doodles on Nega's face as he chuckled evilly.

Time soon returned to normal and the Piston Nega was in, was getting completely destroyed as multiple dents appeared around and scorch marks were on it.

Nega was screaming as his Pistons were exploding. He quickly got out and jumped into his Egg Mobile.

"No way! I can't believe this!" Nega exclaimed as he was making his escape.

"Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed as his hand was charged with yellow Chaos Energy. "**Chaos Spear!"** He launched the attack on the Egg Mobile, causing it to explode.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Nega screamed in anger as he machine lost power. He looks at his reflection seeing the doodles on his face and he went red. "I...HATE...THAT...NINJA BRAT!" He then fell into a bottomless pit.

Naruto grinned down at the pit as he rubbed his finger across his nose, completely ignoring the destruction of the Scrap Brain Zone. He turns around and runs out.

**Music: Credits [Sonic the Hedgehog]**

Naruto races out of the destruction of the Scrap Brain Zone before he found himself back into Star Light Zone. Then he managed to get back to the Labyrinth Zone and ram across the ocean. He returns to Spring Yard Zone in that moment and then came to Marble Zone.

He soon found himself back in Green Hill Zone as all of the Animals followed after him, the moment they saw him.

"YES!" Naruto cheered in excitement as he stopped in an open field. He then break danced as the Animals cheered for him. "ALRIGHT! I beat the bad guy! And I got my first adventure by myself!" He turns to the Animals. "Pretty cool huh guys?"

The Animals cheered once more as they crowded around Naruto. He kneels to them as he began to pet them while some managed to get on his head and shoulders.

"Haha! Yup! This deserves one great-" Naruto stopped as he realized something. His eyes widened further. "Aw man! I still gotta find out where the last Chaos Emerald...is...wha-?"

Naruto trailed off as he saw the six Chaos Emeralds appear before him in a circle. He immediately had a vision of Sonic standing in his place, looking up at the Emeralds, before it vanished.

He watched as the Chaos Emeralds floated to the air above Naruto. They began to spin around really fast and in a flash of white, they vanished.

Naruto's eyes widened in shocked awe before he looks around and saw lots and lots of flowers around the Zone.

"Whoa~" Naruto whistled as he looked around. "This is beautiful." He looks up. "I didn't know they can do that." He puts his hand under his chin. "So what happens now?"

The Chaos Emeralds must be somewhere else by now. There was only six Chaos Emeralds on this Island and the last one wasn't even here. On top of that, when all six came together, they disappeared. Which means he's gonna have to find them again.

Another thing is, he's stuck on this Island. Even using his Telekinesis to fly home won't be it since he hasn't fully mastered it yet. So how can he-?

"Hm?" Naruto felt tugging on his pants. He looks down to one of the Animals, a squirrel called Ricky, looking up at him and pointing in a direction. "Huh?"

The Ricky let go and ran to the direction he was pointing at. He looks back at Naruto and made a noise before he ran off.

"Hey wait up!" Naruto quickly followed after the Squirrel.

After following the Animal for a good minute, Naruto stops and stares in awe at what he saw.

"Coool." Naruto said as he went to the examine the vehicle.

It was an old vintage biplane with a red fuselage and two grey main wings attached with a pair of poles on both sides. The red fuselage has a power plant with a grey tractor screw, small orange forward-pointing arrows close to cockpit, and the word "SONIC" written in white on both sides with stretchy F-letter labels underlining them. The cockpit has only one seat. Its empennage has two small horizontal stabilizers and one vertical stabilizer, the latter emblazoned with an emblem of a Bumper with wings. It also has three wheels, two under the lower main wing and one below the empennage.

Naruto stopped his examination as he saw the word 'SONIC' on it. "Sonic?" He puts his on the biplane but gasped as a vision of a younger Sonic jumping in the plane and flying it appeared in his head. "This is Sonic's airplane! The Tornado!"

What was the Tornado even _doing_ here? Sitting all alone like this? How come he never spotted it?

Oh! Maybe the Animals were looking out for it.

"Yeah. That makes since. I think." Naruto said. He looks up at the sky then back at the plane before a grin appeared on his face.

He jumps into the pilot seat and his eyes widen as he saw a Compass in front of him. And it was pointing West.

"Alright then." Naruto said as he put his hands on the wheel. "West it is then." He began to start the plane up and he cheered when he heard the engines start. He looks at the Squirrel and waved at him. "Thanks a lot little guy! Stay safe!" He began to drive before starting to take off.

The Ricky waved goodbye to Naruto with a bright smile on hiz face before he ran off to join his friends.

**Ending 1: The Shining Road**

***Instruments***

"AWESOME!" Naruto cheered as he flew away from South Island, waving to the Animals as they waved back. He turns back around, hands gripping the wheel in excitement, and gets ready to start a new adventure.

However, a familiar floating metallic object caught sight of the plane leaving and began to follow it.

But unknown to Naruto and the object following him, the same masked boy from before came out from the shadows and watched them leave with his arms crossed.

"Soon…" He said as he vanished.

* * *

**The world around us is so magical**

**But now it's been placed under a spell**

The shot of the Hidden Leaf Village is shown at night. However, the sun starts to rise in the distance.

**My love, come with me and together we shall search to find a charm**

**We'll travel to the land of our dreams where forbidden dreams just may come true**

Naruto is sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's mountain head as he stares at the rising sun. The wind starts to blow as it moved his hair to the side. He looks down at his hand, staring at his star charm, a sad look on his face.

He close his eyes and puts the charm on his chest for a moment, not seeing it glowing slightly.

**When we're alone tomorrow, we will sneak away and secretly meet**

**Up on top of a hill, where there are birds everywhere and we can be all alone**

At the same time, a Princess is seen at her castle, staring at the rising sun as well, a sad look on her face. She walks back to her room and picks up her star charm from her bed, placing it on her chest and closing her eyes, not seeing it glow.

**I know someday, I'll hold your hand. While we sit alone in the morning mist**

**And the seal in our way, of our shining road will be broken**

Back in the Leaf Village, a younger Naruto opens his eyes and saw he was in a mist. He walks forward, looking around in confusion.

Unknown to Naruto, the Princess, who got younger also, appeared behind him and was looking around as well. They both stopped walking as they felt each other's presence.

They slowly looked back at each other with surprised expressions. Naruto ended up smiling happily as he ran to her and grabbed her hand, bringing a smile on the Princess's face. The two ran off together, before they disappeared.

**Till the end of time**

Naruto and the Princess, in their older forms, stood back to back, eyes closed and smiles present on their faces. In their hands, were their star charms.

* * *

**West Side Island**

A young boy is seen inside his home, working on a new invention.

"Almost there…" He said as he still messed with some stuff. A happy smile appeared. "YES!" His ears twitched as he heard something outside. He looks out the window and saw an airplane. He watched as the plane made a spin and flew down to land. "Whoa…!"

The young boy stood up in excitement. "That was so cool! I wonder who that was!" He grabs his invention and runs outside, the bright sun revealing fox ears on his head and twintails.

"I can't wait to meet them!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hah! Wasn't expecting to see Dr. Eggman Nega in this fic did ya?

You're probably asking yourselfs "How is Eggman Nega and Blaze's kingdom here in Naruto's World", right?

Now, if you payed attention in the first chapter, Sonic, Shadow and Silver have been within Naruto since the day he was _born_, just _after_ the battle with Solaris.

And you know in 2006, after Silver's story, Blaze had already disappeared after sealing Iblis inside her.

It's said that she was transported into another dimension after that and meaning people believe it was her home dimension from Sonic Rush, which is total bull. Don't even know why they bothered to change her background like that for 06, especially when her first appearance was in Sonic Rush.

Well, I used that concept and made Blaze and her whole kingdom reborn into the world of Naruto.

And before you ask, no, Blaze doesn't have Iblis inside her. She never had in the Rush games and she never will here, seeing how Iblis don't exist anymore.

Plus like any other Sonic character, aside from Eggman, Cream and Shadow, we never got to know who Blaze's family really is, but as revealed in Sonic Rush Adventure their still around. So her parents are my OC. I based her father and his abilities on King Regis Lucis Caelum of Final Fantasy XV, one of the most incredible Final Fantasy games in history, in my opinion that is.

As for Doctor Eggman Nega, well originally he was an alternate dimensional counterpart to Dr. Eggman, only for Sonic Team to change it up and make him Eggman's descendant. Well, Eggman Nega hasn't been used that much, and we haven't seen him since Sonic Rivals 2 seeing how he was trapped in that other dimension and is more than likely dead by now.

So, I wanted Dr. Nega to become the Dr. Eggman of Naruto's world. Now to let everyone know, this Dr. Nega is Dr. Eggman reborn into the Naruto world, so he doesn't know Sonic and the others.

Now, as to how South Island and the others are in the Naruto world, it's really simple.

After the battle with Solaris, with Elise blowing out his flames, ceasing his existence, the Hedgehogs got sent into Naruto while at the same time places from Sonic's World crossover into Naruto's world, along with certain people being reborn there, like Blaze and Dr. Nega.

And that mysterious boy with the fox features. ;)

So look forward to seeing familiar faces.

Well, that's all I had to say. What a mouthful right? Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	7. Ultimate 7

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja!**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1 [V2]: Sonic Drive [English]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera before it changed to show Naruto running with a serious frown on his face.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures appears: One is Naruto giving a thumbs up and grin. The second is Tails, both his human and fox forms together, doing a pose and smiling at the readers. The third is Amy doing a pose, with her hands behind her back, smiling cutely. The fourth is Knuckles grinning and posing. The last pic is Blaze, her arms crossed and back turned to the viewers, looking over her shoulder.

The scene changes to show a falling Chaos Emerald.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appears: One is Dr. Eggman Nega grinning evilly at the viewers. The second are various Badniks appearing comically. The third is Robo Naruto in a pose. The fourth is Metal Naruto in a pose based on Metal Sonic's artwork from Sonic Channel. The last pic is the Masked Boy in a stance of sorts.

The scene changes again to the Leaf Village, more specifically the Hokage Mountain.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The camera zooms in on the mountain before it goes up to the clear blue sky to reveal the title:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

***Instruments***

Naruto was falling down to South Island before he used his Telekinesis to land down as he looks around in shock and disbelief.

He then notices a bunch of Badniks kidnapping Animals, making him frown seriously before he begins to destroy them and then runs ahead.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today**

**The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is running across the Zones of South Island before he stopped and was face to face with Eggman Nega, who was fuming at the sight of him. Naruto smirks and does a Spin Dash and charged at him.

Later, Naruto has the six Chaos Emeralds as they vanished and large flowers appeared on South Island. He grins as he turns to the Tornado.

**If I don't keep running**

**There's no other meaning**

The scene changes to show Naruto landing the Tornado on West Side Island as Tails comes flying towards him but he sneezes as he changed between his fox form and human form before taking on his fox form.

An explosion is heard, making Tails jump up as they turned and saw Eggman Nega laughing evilly before he flies away.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins at Tails as he gave him thumbs up, making him nod happily and the two raced forward across the Zones.

**Biorhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

The scene changes to show Naruto inside the Death Egg as he battled against Robo Naruto before destroying him. The Death Egg shook and Naruto heard something behind him. He looks bafk him and saw the Death Egg Robot getting ready to stomp him.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

Naruto grins as the Chaos Emeralds appeared around him before he absorbed them and transformed into Super Naruto.

He grins up at the Death Egg Robot before he charged at him and out of the Death Egg as it exploded. He winks and gives a thumbs up to the viewers.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack**

**Surpass everything altogether**

**I won't let anyone**

**Or anything get ahead of me**

The scene change to show Naruto running across a green field. Something caught his attention as he stops and looks up, seeing a planet chained to a mountain. He runs up to the mountain till he was at the top.

He Spin Dash down the mountain before he jumped off the ramp and landed on the chain as he ran on it, heading towards the planet.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!**

**Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!**

**"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar**

**That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

Blaze is riding on a boat, looking at the horizon with a soft smile present on her face.

At the Stardust Speedway Zone on Little Planet, the Masked Boy watches on as Naruto and Metal Naruto were racing on a track. Amy Rose is seen crying for head at the end of the track, while Eggman Nega chases after them with a laser beam on his Egg Mobile.

Naruto soon got in front of Metal Naruto as he reached his hand out to Amy.

**Throw boredom away**

**And start running**

The Death Egg is seen falling from the sky and landing on Angel Island, causing it to fall the ocean.

The Guardian of the Island, Knuckles, see's it falling. He runs over to where the Death Egg landed to investigate.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Amy hugging a blushing Naruto happily. The second is Naruto and Tails are flying to Angel Island. The third is Naruto fighting against Knuckles. The fourth is Blaze running across the jungle. The last pic is the Masked Boy leaning on the Altar of the Emeralds.

The scene changes to show the Master Emerald, with the Chaos Emeralds surrounding it. The Chaos Emeralds then transform into Super Emeralds.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is Dr. Nega taking the Master Emerald from its shrine, with Knuckles grabbing onto his Egg Mobile while Naruto and Tails chase after them. The second pic is Naruto and Tails running through the Sky Sanctuary, seeing the Death Egg rising in the background. The third pic is Naruto up in space as he looks back at a giant mech with the Master Emerald inside it, a comical shocked look on his face. The last pic is the mural from the Hidden Palace Zone.

The scene changes to show Naruto giving a mighty roar as his body started to glow in a rainbow color.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

A silhouette of Naruto's new transformation is seen, with his back turned to the readers, a rainbow aura covering his being. The camera zooms in on his back as he looks over his shoulder, showing his now purple eye.

* * *

**Ultimate Ninja 7: Naruto Uzumaki 2! Westside Island Adventure!**

**Chapter Cover: **Naruto and Tails stood, grinning and smiling, in a blue space with a large checkered number 2 in the background. Dr. Nega is in the background as well, gripping the number 2 as it cracks. (Based on the US Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Boxart)

* * *

High in the sky, Naruto was flying the Tornado, enjoying the nice breeze in the air.

"Man! This is way past cool!" He cheered. He still couldn't believe that Sonic's biplane is here. Well, guess it's his biplane now. Matter of fact, he couldn't believe that he actually _knew_ how to fly this plane when something like this hasn't been invented. It's like it just suddenly came to him, just like that!

**Beep! Beep! Beep!**

Naruto heard beeping noises, interrupting his thoughts, making him look down at the Compass and saw he was approaching his location. He looks down below and his eyes widen as he saw another island. And this one looked bigger than South Island.

"This must be the place." Naruto said.

After flying for a couple of minutes, Naruto realized that the Tornado _wanted_ him to go somewhere. He just didn't know where, so he decided to play along and payed attention to the Compass.

And it looks like the Tornado wanted him to go to that Island ahead.

"Time to go see this new Island!" Naruto said in excitement as he flew down towards the Island, still not knowing of the metallic floating object that flew over to the other side of the Island.

Once Naruto landed safely on the Island, at the beach. he got out of his plane and he saw a sign that read "**Welcome to West Side Island"**.

"West Side Island, huh?" Naruto asked as he took a good look around and saw a beautiful forest with palm trees and azure lakes.

"Man, this place is beautiful." Naruto commented. He looks up at the sky and saw the sunset. "Especially with the sky looking like that." He gasped as he started to sense the presence of not six but all _seven_ Chaos Emeralds.

"All of them...all seven Chaos Emeralds are here." Naruto said in surprise. His eyes widened in realization. "The Tornado…" He turns to it. "That's why it brought me here. But...why is the seventh Emerald here and wasn't on South Island with the rest? I better go find someone to see if they got the answers."

He then decided to explore the place, hoping he might run into some natives here but with no luck. In fact the only natives around here were the little Animals. The same ones from South Island.

Naruto had stopped his exploration of the area as he heard his stomach growling. "Damn...I've been busy having fun on these adventures, I haven't gotten anything to eat. I don't even have my Ramen or Chili Dogs to eat!" He hung his head and looks up to see it was getting dark soon. "I better hurry up and get something to eat before it gets too dark." He then runs off, picking up any fruits that were near, before heading back to the beach where he parked his Tornado to get some fish.

* * *

**Next Day**

Naruto yawned as he stretched his limbs out. The sun was out and it wasn't hitting his face. The reason why? Is because he is sleeping under the wing of the Tornado.

"Today is another beautiful day!" Naruto exclaimed as he got up and walked out underneath the Tornado and into the sun. He pats his stomach. "Last night's dinner was good! Now, time to find the people!"

He dashes off again to explore the island.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

On another part of the island, a young boy is seen running in the forest, trying to find the location of where the plane landed. He didn't find it yesterday, so maybe today is the day he'll find it and meet whoever landed there.

"I wonder where the plane landed." The boy said, scratching his cheek. He stopped as he heard someone coming, making him hide under the bushes. His eyes widened as he saw a boy who looked several years older than him.

"_Huh? Who's he?"_ The boy asked himself before his eyes widen. "_Oh! He must be the pilot of that plane!"_

"Hm…" The boy hummed as he looked around. "Still nothing." He then runs off really fast, shocking the child at the burst of speed the older teen has.

"Whoa...so cool." The little fox boy said. That older boy moved so fast, it felt like he was the wind itself! The boy quickly followed after him.

"Hmm." Naruto hummed as he was now walking through the forest. "Still no signs of any people here, only Animals. South Island had no one either." He put his hand under his chin. "What's going on? What happened to the humans on the Islands?"

Naruto heard rustling in the bushes. He turns around to it, raising an eyebrow before he shrugged, thinking it was one of those Animals. He continues to walk away to explore the area.

The rustles continued on as Naruto walked away, making him look to the bushes from the side as his eyes narrowed.

Okay, it was official. Someone was following him, though he didn't sense no intent to kill. This one was more of curiosity.

Naruto sighed. "Oi, I know you're there, I can sense you." He said out loud as the rustling stopped and he heard a childish male squeak, making the Ultimate Ninja's eyes widen. "_There's a kid here?"_

The bushes moved again as Naruto saw curious sky blue eyes staring back at him, blinking before they widened comically as they ducked back in.

Naruto had a half-lidded expression as he stared at the bush before he turned to the readers and shrugged. So the kid wanna play that game? Okay, he'll play along.

He turns and runs off.

**Insert Song: Back in Time [Sonic R]**

Naruto turns back to see if the kid was following him. The moment he did, his eyes widened. There behind him was a human boy, who looked to be around Konohamaru's age group but slightly younger, around five or six.

But that wasn't what shocked Naruto. No, what shocked him was that the little boy had fox ears and from what he could see, a fox tail as well which he was using to catch up to him.

The boy has yellow-orange hair, obviously with his ears and tail being the same color, though the tips of his tails were white. He wore short brown shorts and a yellow tank top over a white t-shirt. He wore red shoes with white toes and white gloves.

Naruto took a good look into the boy's blue eyes and he saw the determination to try and catch up to him. But that's not all he saw. He saw sadness and loneliness...just like how he was when he was young.

Naruto smiles as he saw the boy catching up to him, though for some reason he sense familiarty with him which made his chest feel heavy. He ignores the feeling and decides to just have fun. He looks ahead, jumping off a bunch of pointy rocks with the fox following right behind him. He Spin Dash as he landed on the ground.

The boy's eyes widened as he saw that. That was awesome! He grins confidently as he jumps in the air and did a spin. He stopped as he landed on the ground and jumps again, spinning once more. He landed once more before he jumped higher. He spread his arms and legs out before he finally did the Spin Dash.

Naruto grins happily as he saw the kid do the Spin Dash. He stopped doing it as he was now catching up behind him. "_This kid is awesome!"_ He exclaimed as he turns back and saw a yellow Spring.

He jumps on it as it bounced him to another one and he was sent flying across the sky. Naruto turns his head to the side in but did a double take as he looked back at the kid who was flying next to him.

No seriously.

The kid was _flying_ right next to him. He looks behind the and his eyes widened further when he finally noticed something.

This kid didn't have one tail. He had two. _Two _tails! He was using the tails to fly as well!? So that's how he was able to catch up with him! He thought he had one tail to help him but it was two of them!

But still...those twintails…

For a second, Naruto thought he saw the boy take the form of fox cub, which made him gasp silently as the feeling he felt before come back full force. He shook his head, seeing the boy change back to normal.

"_What…?"_ Naruto saw the ground coming close. He flips in the air and landed safely on the ground. He looks up at the boy who flew down and noticed Naruto stare at him as he turned to him.

"That's awesome!" Naruto exclaimed as the boy's eyes widened. "You have two tails and you're using them fly! That is seriously awesome man!"

The boy had a mild blush on his face at the compliment. This...this was the first time...anyone has ever said anything nice to him, let alone compliment like that. Plus, he wasn't even freaking out about him having two tails.

**Song End**

"U-Um...um…" The boy stuttered. He was nervous. He has no idea what to say in this situation!

"Hey, so what's-"

"I GOTTA GO! BYE!" The boy suddenly yelled as he flew away.

"Huh?!" Naruto exclaimed as the boy began to vanish from view. "Hey, wait a second! Tails wait!"

Naruto gasped as he put his hand in front of his mouth in surprise. "H-Huh…?" He knew his name. How did he know his name? He felt something slid down his cheek. He touched it and felt wetness. "...what? Why am I…?" He didn't know why but a tear had slid from his eye. He suddenly felt more tears fall, he tries to wipe them but they just kept falling.

It felt like...like something was squeezing him inside. He's been ignoring this feeling and just wanted to have fun with the kid. But...just by seeing him...he just felt more and more happy and relieved to see him again and he didn't know why! He never even met him!

But there is a certain kinship he felt from seeing the boy.

"His eyes…they were exactly like mine." He looks down for a moment before he looks up to where Tails left. "Tails…"

* * *

**Elsewhere**

Tails was flying through the forest as he still couldn't believe what happened. That human boy had complimented him, saying that he's awesome! He's never been complimented before so it took him by surprise.

It's been a while since he's seen other humans before he found his way on this sland. The humans would always look at him as though he was a freak of nature, an abomination that shouldn't even exist. It was also the same here with the Animals, and they would bully him any chance they could get.

But that boy...he didn't even care about what he looked like. If anything, he looked happy and it seems like he was having fun with him.

Tails stops flying and looks down. Just before he vanished from the boy's view, he saw his face once more and saw he looked...sad that he left.

"That boy...did he wanted to be...f-friends with me?" He asked himself. "I better go and find him."

He began to fly in hopes of finding the mysterious boy. He looks down below and couldn't find him anywhere but then his eyes widened as he saw a red biplane on the beach. He flies down to where the plane is.

"It's the plane!" The fox said in awe as he examined the plane. He's been searching for the plane since he saw it yesterday but he got lost and decided to head home. "It looks fast, but I bet I can make it go faster!"

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"Still nothing…" Naruto muttered as he walked back to the beach. He yawned as he stretched his arms out. "There really aren't any humans on this Island. Not only that, I don't know how to get the the Chaos Emeralds in the Special Zone and I haven't even found a Giant Ring here. I guess there's an alternate route here on West Side Island. And that kid…" His thoughts went to the boy. "I still haven't found...hm?"

He stopped talking when he heard something mechanical...and it was coming from the beach. But the only thing on the beach was the Torna…

Naruto's eyes widened comically as he realized someone was messing with his plane! "HEY!" He quickly runs to the beach and stopped as his eyes widened.

When he realized that the Tornado was on the beach and someone was messing with it, he expected to run into a torn apart plane and the bastard who was doing it taking some parts.

But, what he didn't expect was to find the kid from earlier _fixing_ his plane. It looked like the he upgraded the biplane as he saw some parts added to it, making it look faster than before, plus it looks he gave it a paint job...in a cool shade of blue.

All in all Naruto loved it. He walks up to the boy, watching as he continued to paint it and not noticing him.

"There! All finished!" Tails cheered as he examined the biplane. "It looks faster now!"

"I'll say!" Naruto agreed, causing the fox boy to jump in the air as he screamed in surprise. The Genin held his arms out as he caught the little boy, causing him to look at him in surprise. "Sorry little guy didn't mean to scare ya." He put the fox down.

"No, I'm sorry." The boy said as he scratched the back of his head. "I didn't mean to touch your plane...it's just...whenever I see a machine, I can't help myself. I hope you don't mind but I gave it a new engine to make it go faster. I'm really sorry."

"Dude, why are you apologizing? You just made the Tornado even more awesome!" Naruto said happily as the boy had a shocked surprised expression. "And great job with the color! Really gives off the coolness!"

The boy stared at Naruto with the same expression before a bright smile appeared on his face. He was right after all! This teen was okay with being with someone like him. And not only that, but he also loved what he did with his plane!

At first he thought that he might get angry at him for touching it without his permission but instead he was excited and impressed!

"Yeah! I added a lot of stuff to it too!" The kid said happily.

"You did all that? You're amazing!" Naruto said in an amazed tone as the kid blushed at the compliment. The Ultimate Ninja walks up to him. "So, how come you've been following me around? Was it because of my plane or something else?"

"Well...not exactly." The boy said shyly before he looked down sadly, getting Naruto's full attention as he wanted to know why this kid was all alone. "They...they always make fun of me, because I like to repair and fix things and because I'm…" He grabs one of his tails and his poked his ears. "Different."

That made Naruto's eyes narrow. They always _make fun _of him? That could only meant one thing. This kid has been bullied because of his unique fox features, which made Naruto inwardly growl.

If there's one thing he hates are bullies.

And once he find the punks who's been bullying this little guy, they better hope _and_ pray they don't run into him in the future.

"But…" The boy spoke up, getting Naruto's attention again. He smiled up at the human. "When I saw you, you looked really cool and I followed you because I wanted to talk to you but…"

"You got nervous." Naruto continued as the Fox nodded.

"When you said that I was awesome I was caught off guard so I ran away." The boy admitted. "I tried to look for you but then I found your plane on the beach, I'd figure I'd fix it up and we could be friends. Um...if you want to that is."

Naruto smiled sadly. So that was it. This little guy was shy to come and talk to him and he never was complemented before, that's why he ran.

He also felt sorry for him. He's been bullied all his life by the Animals because of his twintails and because he likes to repair machines. But why!? He has an amazing gift so why were they bullying him for something like that!?

The more he thought about it, the more angrier he gets at the bullies.

Naruto also began to question on what happened to his parents...that is...if his parents were alive that is. So then...he had no one to take him in. He's been alone for a long time and never had one friend.

Him and this boy...were a lot alike.

"Well, to be honest, I wanted to be friends with you the moment I saw ya." He told the little child, much to his surprise. He put his fist out in front of the Fox, doing his signature smile. "Nice to meet ya little buddy, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! A ninja from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, believe it!"

The Fox's eyes widen in awe. He's a Ninja?! So cool! He smiles happily as he fist bumps Naruto.

"I'm **Miles Prower**! But everyone calls me **Tails**!" Tails introduced himself happily.

"Righto little buddy!" Naruto and Tails shared a high five and small laugh as Tails flew around Naruto.

Suddenly, they both saw a flash of white and then-

**BOOM!**

"WHOA!" Tails screamed as he hid behind Naruto's back, while the Genin himself had his eyes narrowed, a serious frown on his face.

Various explosions then occurred across the area the two were in as the wildfire blew away various debris. Naruto quickly grabbed Tails and dodged them all with ease.

"That was clo-"

"Naruto look!" Tails pointed and Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Robots violently excavating the area.

And those Robots look _awfully_ a lot like the ones from South Island, which meant...

"Oh you gotta be kidding me..." Naruto growled as a cyan aura appeared around him. He held his hand out to the Robots and they stopped their rampage as similar auras appeared around them. He swiped his hand to the side and sent them flying into the ocean.

He saw more of them coming out from the forest and held his hand out to them making them float in the air. He then clenched his fist tight as the Badniks were squished in the air before they exploded.

Naruto floated down as he turned to Tails, who had an awe expression as he looked down at the destroyed Robots. "Tails are you okay?"

"So...so cool!" Tails exclaimed as Naruto blinked at him before grins and chuckled.

The two heard something flying above them. They looked up and saw a flying metallic object going past them.

"That's right my Badniks! Destroy everything!" A familiar voice ordered as he laughed evilly as he vanished.

"Dr. Eggman Nega!" Naruto exclaimed as Tails looked at him in surprise.

"You know him?" Tails asked as Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, he's an evil scientist who wants to take over the world. But I don't understand. How the hell did he escape from South Island? Matter of fact, what's he doing here?" He asked himself before realization hit him and he palmed his face, groaning in annoyance. "Oh man, he must've followed me after our battle and probably learned the Chaos Emeralds are here."

"Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked tilting his head.

"Yeah, they're these 7 Emeralds that holds a lot of unlimited powers…" Naruto replied as he looked down, a serious frown on his face. "If given in the wrong hands, they could have the power to destroy the world and that's why Eggman Nega wants to have them."

A gasp escaped from Tails.

"Yesterday, I was at South Island and I learned from Nega that the Chaos Emeralds were there. But only six of the Emeralds were there and the last one wasn't." Naruto turned to the Tornado. "When they vanished, I found the Tornado and it brought me here to this Island and I could sense that all seven of them were here. I'm trying to figure out why that's possible."

"You know, that sounds exactly like the legend on this Island." Tails said as Naruto looked at him in confusion.

"Legend?" He asked as the Cub nodded.

"A very long time ago, the people of West Side Island used a mysterious stone to advance their civilization and achieve prosperity. However, when those people tried to use the stone for the wrong reasons, their prosperity vanished overnight. It is believed that the Kami sealed away the stone within the island's depths."

Naruto had a stupefied expression. A mysterious stone? That sounded like the seventh Chaos Emerald! So it _was_ here all along! But wait, the people from back then used the Emerald to advance their civilization and prosperity?

That was incredible!

What wasn't incredible was the fact they were using the Emeralds for their own selfish reasons and it looked like the Gods sealed it away.

It looks like after the six Chaos Emeralds vanished from South Island, the lost seventh must've called them over here and they're probably in the Secret Zone.

And Nega wants to know how to get in those Secret Zones and get them.

"Naruto?" Tails asked, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry I was thinking." Naruto chuckled sheepishly before he turns to around and walks away. "In all seriousness, Nega is gonna try and find the Chaos Emeralds just like on South Island. And it looks like I'm gonna have to find them before he does. Tails, you should-"

"I'll come along with you!" Tails said happily, catching Naruto off guard.

"Huh?!"

"I said I'll come with you." Tails repeated.

Naruto was gonna tell him no but paused when he saw the same determined expression from earlier which impressed him. Plus he was reminded that Tails had no one to watch over him, so it'll be dangerous if he's by himself, especially with Nega around here. He's also the first and only friend Tails ever had.

And besides, adventures are always more fun with friends around.

So, with a grin on his face, Naruto nodded.

"Alrighty then! This adventure is gonna be a lot more fun!" Naruto cheered as he starts to rev his feet up. "Come on Tails! Let's go kick Nega's butt!"

"Yeah!" Tails cheered as well as the two disappeared in a yellow blur.

They left the forest and found themselves stopping on a green hill as Naruto looked around in awe.

"Whoa...what's this place?"

"This is **Emerald Hill Zone**." Tails replied as he jumped off Naruto's shoulder.

**Music: Emerald Hill Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Plains of verdant grass and beautiful beaches draw instant comparisons with South Island's Green Hill Zone, but Emerald Hill Zone has a character all of its own.

"Emerald Hill Zone…" Naruto repeated before his eyes narrowed as he saw spiked deathtraps and those Badniks. "Okay, let's go!"

"Ok!" Tails nodded as the two dashed off.

The two journeyed across the Zone as they destroyed the Badniks that were in their way while also releasing the trapped Animals. They crossed through a bridge as fish Badniks jumped out of the river to get a bite out of them, only to get covered by a cyan aura and smashed into each other.

Naruto wasn't so surprised as he saw Rings scattered here as well so he and Tails picked them up.

"Hey Tails?" Naruto asked as he ran through a loop.

"Yeah?" Tails asked as he did a Spin Attack and destroyed a Monkey Badnik.

"Do you know anyway to enter a **Secret Zone** here?"

"A what Zone?"

"A Secret Zone." Naruto threw a Kunai at a Badnik before he jumped on a Spring and landed on a floating platform, grabbing the Rings that were there, and jumped off before moving on as Tails flew next to him.

"It's where I found the Chaos Emeralds back on South Island. However in order for me to get there, there was these Giant Rings that was like a portal." Naruto continued on as he and Tails dodged a large laser attack from a chameleon Badnik before Naruto kicked it away.

"Oh, you must mean a Special Zone!" Tails realized.

"_Huh. And I've been calling them Secret Zone."_ Naruto thought before he shrugged. Same thing.

"Well, legends say that there are these **Star Posts** across the Island. Once you gather enough Rings, they'll open a portal to somewhere unknown." Tails explained before he squeaked as Naruto grabbed him and jumped over a bunch of spikes.

"Star Posts…" The Leaf Genin said, letting the term roll off his tongue. So in order to get inside the Special Zone, he needs to have the right amount of Rings for these Star Posts?

Sounds easy!

But how many Rings does the Star Post need in order to open a portal?

"Huh?" Naruto stopped running as something caught his interest while he put Tails down.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Tails asked, wondering why his new friend stopped.

"Is that one of those Star Posts you were talking about earlier?" Naruto asked, pointing ahead as Tails looked at it.

The Star Post has a yellow shapely post, grey stretch rod and a lamp on the top which has a red circle with black center with white star in it.

"Yeah, that's it!" Tails nodded.

Naruto looked at the Star Post. Well, time to see if he's got enough Rings. He hits the Star Post as the lamp spins around before it flashes red and yellow. All of a sudden spinning Star Circles appeared above it.

Naruto and Tails looked at it before each other as they nodded and jumped into the Star Circle.

* * *

**Music: Special Stage [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto and Tails are running through a blue half pipe. Above them, Naruto saw the sky looked similar to the ones from the Secret Zone on South Island.

"Whoa! T-This is amazing!" Tails exclaimed.

"Amazing?!" Naruto asked in disbelief as he looked around. "Dude, this place is completely different than the ones on South Island! How do we even get the Chaos Emerald here?"

They heard something above them. They looked up and saw a screen that says to collect 140 Rings. After that, their names appeared and the amount of Rings they have, which is 0.

They blinked as they looked at each other before they looked ahead and saw there were incoming Rings.

Oh! So in order for them to get the Emeralds, they have to get the right amount of Rings or higher and then they'll be able to get the Chaos Emerald.

With a grin on his face, Naruto turns to Tails.

"Let's do it to it Tails!" Naruto gave him a thumbs up.

"You got it Naruto!" Tails gave a thumbs up in return.

The two turned back and gathered up the incoming Rings. They were coming from the front and on the sides, so the two went into separate directions to gather them.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he saw bombs lying around.

"Heads up Tails! We got bombs incoming!" He exclaimed.

"Okay!" Tails nodded.

The two jumped out of the bombs way, all the while grabbing the Rings that were coming their way. Once they saw nothing else, they ran to the center again.

A screen popped up in front of them showing a thumbs up. The screen disappeared and both Naruto and Tails saw a glowing blue object.

"There it is!" Naruto exclaimed as the two got close enough in order for Naruto to grab it. "Yes! We got a Chaos Emerald!"

"Awesome!" Tails cheered.

Stars appeared around them and the two disappeared.

* * *

**Music: Emerald Hill Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto and Tails appeared in front of the Star Post. In Naruto's hand was the blue Chaos Emerald.

"Wow." Tails whispered in awe as he stared at the Emerald. "So that's a Chaos Emerald."

"Yup!" Naruto said happily. "That's one emerald down. We just need find six more." The emerald vanished in his hand, aweing Tails. "C'mon little dude, this adventure is just getting started!"

"Okay!" Tails nodded happily.

The two continued their journey across the Zone before Naruto saw one of those Capsules that was on South Island, which made him narrow his eyes.

"_Damn, we've only been here for a day and he already captured those Animals."_

"Hey, what's that Capsule?" Tails asked.

"It's those Capsules that Nega uses to capture the Animals, so he can use them to power up his Badniks." Naruto explained as he jumped and landed on the Capsule.

Once he did, the Capsule exploded and the Animals escaped as they cheered happily.

**Music Ends**

"And if this is like what happened on South Island, that means that those Capsules are across the Zones here." Naruto said as he and Tails walked now, not noticing the brown smoke in the sky and them entering a new Zone. "We better find them and set those Animals free."

"Is there anything else?" Tails asked curiously before he looked around.

"Yeah, Dr. Nega has probably made some factories around here as well like on South Island." Naruto stated.

"Like this place?" Tails asked.

That made Naruto stop walking as he looked around. The two of them were now in a Chemical Factory. There were tubes around as they were filled with blue liquid. There was also floating platforms around.

"Yup." Naruto deadpanned. "Just like this place." He sighed before he grinned. "Welp time to tear this…" He took a good closer look at this Zone before naming it. "**Chemical Plant Zone** down!"

"Right!" Tails grinned as well before his nose began to twitch because of the smoke. "A-A-ACHOO!"

"Bless-"

**POOF!**

"...you?" Naruto blinks and turns around to Tails and his eyes widened in comical shock and disbelief.

In Tails' place, is a young fox cub. But to Naruto, this cub reminded him of the Hedgehogs. He wore Tails' gloves and shoes, and had three plucks sticking out of his fur. He also has white fur around his muzzle and torso.

"Thank you…" Tails sniffed as he rubbed his nose. He looks up and saw the dumbfounded expression on Naruto's face. "What's wrong Naruto?"

"T...Tails?!" Naruto asked in shock. "Is...is that you?"

"Huh?" Tails blinked before his eyes widened in realization. He looks down at himself, seeing he was in his fox form. "WAH!

"You're a fox!" Naruto said with an awe look as he looked at Tails up and down, noticing that he was shorter than the Hedgehogs from thr last time he saw them.

"Y-yeah…" Tails muttered softly, which Naruto noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"Remember when I said on how I was different from everyone else?" Tails asked. "It wasn't just my tails and ears...it was this also." He referred to his fox form.

Naruto gained an understanding expression. "It's because you have both a fox form and human form that you've been rejected by not just Animals here, but humans as well." He stated as Tails nodded sadly, his ears moving down. He put a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. "Listen Tails, there's nothing wrong with being different from everybody else. No matter what you look like on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts. If people don't understand that then prove them wrong. Show them that you aren't who they think you are because of your appearance. Show them...that you are a really cool kid!" He finished with a thumbs up and his famous grin.

That made Tails gasp as he stared at Naruto in awe with tears gathering in his eyes. Even...even though they met not too long ago and he's just now revealing his human form to Naruto, he gave him such helpful and encouraging advice to him.

And he was right! He has to show everyone who he really is on the inside not because of his appearance.

"Naruto...thanks Naruto." Tails smiled up at him.

Naruto grins and winks at him.

"HO HO HO HO HO!"

"Nega!" Naruto exclaimed as he and Tails continued to hear his evil laughter throughout the Chemical Plant. "Let's go Tails!"

"Right!"

**Music: Chemical Plant Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

The two start their journey off by jumping on a moving platform before continuing on running across a pipe full of blue chemicals. They jumped on a yellow spring, making them go to the higher level before they attacked a Spider-like Badnik.

They quickly dodged out of the way when they saw blue chemicals sprouting from the ground. They went through a loop before going all the way down as they went faster and faster before they hit a red Spring, bouncing them back to the other direction as they traveled down the pipes, before hitting a dead end.

They saw lid on the floor and Tails, being curious, does a Spin Attack on it and it forcibly sucked them both inside.

"WHOAAAAAAAA!" Naruto screamed as they were going really fast inside the pipes as it took them into a new direction by moving up, down and all around.

Once they were out of the pipes, via launching them upwards, a lid closed, revealing a red Spring as they bounced on it and landed on moving yellow blocks. Naruto quickly grabbed Tails and ran up the wall, using his chakra before he grabbed a ledge and pulled them up. He then sat him down and looks over the ledge.

"Wow~my head is spinning." Tails said as his eyes became swirls before his nose twitched. "ACHOO!"

**POOF!**

He turned back into his human form.

"Tails, I believe you found us a new fun shortcut in this Waste Dump." Naruto said happily as he looked down at the tube they were just shot out of in excitement.

"WAH!?"

Naruto quickly turns to Tails and saw he got grabbed by one of those spider Badniks from the ceiling. "HEY!" He Spin Attacks it, releasing both Tails and the Animal inside before he grabbed them both.

He released the Animal, a Rabbit, as it waved at them before it hopped away

"That was close." Tails sighed in relief as Naruto let him go.

"C'mon, we should be getting close to Nega." Naruto said.

They ran ahead, down the blue pipes before Naruto did a Spin Dash to attack a Badnik that was close to them and got out of it to continue running. They went through a Dash Panel, making them go faster as they went through multiple loops in a burst of speed as they found themselves entering a factory.

They were then rocketed upwards, grabbing some Rings that were floating in mid-air. They continued onwards as they destroyed more Badniks before they found themselves trapped and were on the moving blocks.

"Ah! Naruto look!" Tails pointed below them, making Naruto look down and saw rising pink water. And it was rising fast! "Mega Mack!"

"Um, Mega what?"

"Poisonous Water!"

"Ah. OH CRAP!" Naruto quickly jumped up to a wall and used his chakra again while Tails flew.

Together, the two of them quickly try to get out of the death trap before Tails began to feel tired. Naruto jumps, grabbing Tails after seeing him catch his breath and landed on the other wall and continued to move as the water below them continued to rise faster and faster.

Naruto saw the ledge above as he smirks and jumps up and over it. The two best friends looks at the pink liquid.

"From now on, if we see any form of water that isn't in different colors, we stay away from it." Naruto told Tails as he nodded.

"Yup."

Naruto turns around and gasp as he saw a Star Post. "Alright! A Star Post!" He quickly punches it, making the top spin as stars appeared around.

The two quickly jumps into the stars as they vanished. A portal opens up and the two came back out, with a purple Chaos Emerald in Tails' hand.

"Alright! Two down, five to go!" Naruto said happily before he looks at the Star Post, a curious expression. "_I wonder how long we've been in the Secret Zone. I feel like time moves differently in there than out here."_

"HO HO HO HO HO!"

Naruto and Tails looked around as they heard the laughter. Naruto's eyes began to narrow. They were close. _Real_ close to where Nega is hiding.

The two nodded at each other as they ran ahead before they a saw platform that was moving back and forth between a large gap and below the moving platform was the Mega Mack. Naruto used his ESP to travel across it while Tails flew right beside him.

As they made it to the other side, they quickly dash ahead, running through a Dash Panel as it made them run a wall and threw a loop as they collected nearby Rings and destroyed the Badniks.

Once they were outside the factory, they saw Eggman Nega up ahead, riding his Egg Mobile only it had a tube-like crane on it. They stopped on the yellow platform as they glared at him.

"Nega!" Naruto called out.

"Ah, Naruto! So glad that you could make it!" Nega grinned. "Do you like what I've done with the place?"

"Hell no! How did you even escape from South Island?" Naruto asked.

"That's for me to know and you _not_ find out! I must admit though, when I heard about the legend of this Island when I first arrived here, I was shocked that the lost Emerald was sealed away, separated from the other Emeralds." Nega explained. "Now that all seven of them are gathered here, you won't stop me from getting them!"

"Yeah? Well guess what Egg Face? Me and my new sidekick Tails here are gonna get those Emeralds before you can!" Naruto smirked as Tails nodded.

"That's right! We already got two of the Emeralds and once we have the other five, we will stop you!" Tails exclaimed as Naruto fell back comically.

"WHAT!?" Dr. Nega shouted in disbelief.

"You weren't suppose to tell him that Tails." Naruto whispered to Tails, who blinked and covered his mouth.

"Oops."

"How?! How were you able to collect the Emeralds!?" Nega demanded.

"That's for us to know and you to _never_ find out." Naruto grinned as Nega growled.

"FINE! Then I'll have to _beat_ it out of you!"

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto and Tails jumped back as Nega dumped blue toxic on their heads. Naruto looks back and his eyes widened as three platforms were flipped over.

"Whoa!" Naruto used his ESP to grab Tails, covering him in his cyan aura, as they both moved back to the middle platform. He looks forward and saw the other yellow platforms flip over before they returned to normal.

"That's a cheap trick Nega!" He exclaimed.

"Did you honestly think I would play fair?" Nega shot back as he dumped more of the blue toxic above them, making Naruto move back.

Tails watched as Nega moved to the other side and began to suck in the blue toxic inside the jar above his Egg Mobile. An idea came to his head. He flies on Naruto's back, getting his attention as he whispered in his ear. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the jar before an evil grin formed on his face.

"Gotcha, little buddy!" He exclaimed as he and Tails stepped out of the way of more blue toxics. He did a familiar cross on his fingers. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

**POOF! **

Four Narutos appears in a poof of white smoke, shocking Tails into awe as his eyes were replaced by stars.

"Now!"

The Duo and Clones charged at Nega as they Spin Attack his Egg Mobile multiple times as he Nega screamed out. The Naruto Clones began to destroy the extra pieces of the Egg Mobile before they disappeared, clouding Nega's vision.

As he coughed out the smoke, he looks up and saw a grinning Naruto in his face as he floated in front of his Egg Mobile

"Boom."

**BOOM!**

An explosion rocked from below the Egg Mobile as it got sent flying into the sky, with Nega screaming all the way as small explosions began to appear around his Egg Mobile.

**Music Ends**

Naruto and Tails watched as Nega vanished into the sky, turning into a star. They look ahead, seeing a Capsule there. They jumped over the flipping yellow platforms as they made it to the other side and ran to the Capsule. Naruto jumps up and lands on the button, causing many explosions to erupt and the Animals released, before he did a flip and continued on ahead with Tails flying beside him.

As they ran they found themselves out of the Chemical Plant and into a brand new Zone.

**Music: Aquatic Ruins Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto looks around to see they were now in some sort of ancient ruins that looks like it was submerged into water.

"Hey Tails! What is this place?" He asked curiously as he did a Spin Dash on a Badnik before throwing a bunch of Shuriken at the flying Badniks, destroying them.

"It's the **Aquatic Ruins Zone**!" Tails replied as he did a Spin Attack on a Badnik.

Naruto was about to say something but gave a yell of surprise when he saw a pillar had popped out from underground before he jumped over it.

"Gotta be careful around here." Naruto said to Tails as they ran through a large log bridge and came out.

As they ran past the water, they jumped to a higher before Naruto saw a box of Rings. He jumps on it, collecting the Rings, and went to join Tails. They went through a loop before they ran up a slope. They immediately saw a Star Post and Naruto punched it as stats appeared around them. They jumped into the stars and vanished.

After a minute, the portal opens up and Naruto and Tails came out, a red Chaos Emerald in Naruto's hand before it vanished.

"Is it me, or are these Secret Zones becoming really hard the more we collect these emeralds?" Naruto asked.

"It does seem that way. Maybe it's a test from the God that sealed away the lost Emerald." Tails answered.

"If it's a test then I can say we're passing with flying colors!" Naruto grinned. "But to be honest, it seems more like a challenge to see if we can make it through and collect the Emeralds. And I do love me a challenge. So I say bring it-OUCH!"

Naruto jumps in the air holding his butt as Rings popped out of him while Tails wailed his arms up and down in surprise. Naruto, luckily, landed on his feet and grabbed his butt.

"What the hell!?" He looks behind him and saw an arrow. "An arrow?! Where did-!?"

"Naruto look out!" Tails quickly grabbed Naruto's jacket and flew up with him as other arrows came out from a metal plate on a pillar, which had Eggman Nega's face on it.

"Oh that Fat Bastard…" Naruto growled in annoyance as Tails flew them back down and stood next to him. "Let's hurry up and get out of here."

"Got it!"

The two continued on their journey across the Aquatic Ruins Zone as they collected some Rings. They saw a swinging platform as they jumped on it and it took them to the other side as they jumped off it. They went through a Dash Panel as it made them go through a loop before it took them down into the waters, making them hold their breath.

"_Oh great. __**This**_ _again."_ Naruto groaned inwardly as he and Tails continued to run underwater.

They saw a fish Badnik charging at them before Naruto destroyed it using his Spin Attack. Naruto looks ahead and saw large bubbles coming out of the ground. He looks behind Tails and pointed at them as he nodded his head. Once they made, Tails sucks the large bubble in and Naruto got the second one.

They both then looked ahead and did a Spin Dash as they went up a slope and got out of the water. They ran through the loops once more and jumped on a Spring to get to a higher level, before hitting a bunch of leaves. They landed on a platform and continued on ahead before they fell down. As they saw the Capsule and was running to it, two big pillars suddenly came out from the ground, blocking their way.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto look!"

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto looks up and his eyes widened as he saw the Egg Mobile and it had large hammer. But what shocked Naruto was that there was a Badnik that looks exactly like Nega.

The Badnik pounded his fist on the Egg Mobile as he pointed at them and sat back down. He moved the Egg Mobile to the totem and slammed the hammer down on it, making it shake as an arrow shot out of it, making the two jump.

Naruto glares at the robot as it moved to the other totem.

"Hold on Tails. This will only be a second." He said. He runs to the other totem before he reached into his pocket, taking another paper bomb. He jumps off the totem and landed on the Egg Mobile.

The Badnik eyes widens comically as Naruto slapped the paper on his body before he jumps off. The Badnik wailed his arms as he saw the paper was fire before he turns to the readers and waved goodbye.

**BOOM!**

**Music Ends**

The explosion completely destroyed the Badnik along with the Egg Mobile and it's attached Hammer. The totems soon went back underground.

Naruto and Tails watched as the destroyed Egg Mobile crashed in front of them.

"Well that was easy." Naruto said.

"Uh-huh." Tails agreed.

"...Let's continue on." Naruto continued.

The two ran forward as they jumped on a Capsule and ran off to the next Zone. As they did, they noticed how began to get darker and darker the more they got to the Zone.

Before Naruto could say anything, he and Tails saw neon lights in the distance. Once they reached a cliff, Naruto's jaw dropped comically.

"AWESOME!"

**Music: Casino Night Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

There before them was a huge casino city filled with neon lights. He saw buildings, which gave off electrifying colors, he looked further and saw this casino city had skyscrapers as well. There was also many decorations on some buildings which words on them.

"Hey Tails, where are we?" Naruto asked curiously.

"We're in Casino Night Zone." Tails answered.

"Huh. Fitting name." Naruto said as he saw how dark it is in this Zone. "Oh man! This place looks like fun! C'mon let's go explore!"

"Right!" Tails laughed before a feather touched his nose. "Achoo!"

**POOF!**

Tails appears in his fox form while Naruto deadpanned at him.

"Dude, you gotta control that." Tails laughed sheepishly at that but Naruto just grinned. "Let's go win some Rings!"

**Music Ends**

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village: Training Ground 7**

Sasuke and Sakura were on their Training Ground, waiting for Kakashi to come.

"Gee, it's only a day and we still haven't heard anything about Naruto." Sakura said. "I hope he's okay, wherever he is."

Sasuke didn't say anything but deep down, he was worried about their teammate as well, even though he wouldn't say it nor admit it.

"Yo." Kakashi walked up to them.

"Kakashi-sensei, has there been any word on Naruto?" Sakura quickly asked. "Did you find out where he is?"

"Calm down. And no to both of your questions." Kakashi said. "Naruto is still out there somewhere and we already made sure to send out notices to let our allies outside the Village know if they seen him or not."

"But he could've just written us a letter right?" Sakura asked.

"If he did, we would've have it by now." Kakashi said as Sakura looked down.

"What about the one who sent him away in the first place?" Sasuke asked.

"Hmm…" Kakashi put a hand under his chin. "Well, we're still working on that. I had a theory on that same person which I shared with the Hokage and he shares that believe as well. So whomever it was that sent Naruto away is either long gone or is facing Naruto right now as we speak."

That made Sasuke narrow his eyes while Sakura gasped.

"However, knowing Naruto, wherever he is, he's probably out there trying find his friend _and_ training." Kakashi chuckled. "After all, he is the 'Ultimate Ninja'."

That made Sasuke scoff while Sakura chuckled and sweat dropped.

Kakashi clapped his hands. "So until Naruto comes back from his little vacation, we will still be doing training along with a few D-Rank Missions." That made his students groan at the mention of D-Ranks. "Now now, this is only until Naruto comes back. But for now we'll be doing training."

"Okay, so what's the training?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi chuckled as he took out a Gold Ring before twirling it around his finger. "Take this Gold Ring away from me." The two looked surprised.

"But sensei isn't that Naruto's?" Sakura asked.

"Nope. It's mine." Kakashi replied, much to their surprise. "Believe it or not, I found some yesterday after telling the Hokage about the Mission and Naruto's disappearance. When I went home, I saw them floating above my house so I decided to grab them."

"Huh." Sakura said as she turned to Sasuke, who only shrugged his shoulders.

"Now, let's begin." Kakashi said as they took fighting stances.

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village: Hokage Residence**

Inside his office, Hiruzen couldn't help but stare at the Lucky Charm that was on his desk a sad smile on his face as memories of Naruto entering his office happily while holding hands with a Blaze flashed in his mind.

"_It's been seven years. Seven long years since Naruto last saw her. Seven years since he's been trying to find her."_ Hiruzen looks up at the picture of Minato. "Minato, you and Kushina would be so proud to know how much she means to Naruto and what he's willing to go through to find her."

He stood up and walks up to the window, looking up at the sky.

"Blaze...I don't know where you might be right now or what you're doing, but I do know this…the bond you and Naruto share will bring you both together. And I feel that day is coming…"

* * *

**Elsewhere**

**With Blaze**

On board a ship, Blaze gave a soft sneeze. She's wearing a purple midriff top and a shalwar, which was white on the top and dark purple on the bottom. She wore shoes, which was purple on the sides while the top was red, while the center was opened up. She wore gloves and pink bracelets. She had her hair in a pony tail. She also had on a purple backpack.

It's been a day since she was out at sea. She was currently on her way to the Land of Fire, the location of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Blaze sniffs and blinks. "_Was someone...talking about me?" _

"Say Kid."

Blaze turns around and saw the Captain, a man around his early 50s. He had a green mustache and matching colored hair. He wore a simple white shirt with a brown jacket over it and black pants. He also wore a hat fit for a Captain.

"It's rare that I have kids your age on my ship by themselves. Where ya heading?" He asked curiously.

"To the Land of Fire, Captain." Blaze replied as the Captain's eyes widened in surprise.

"Land of Fire? One of those Ninja Countries?"

"Yes." Blaze smiled softly as she looked at her reflection in the water. I'm heading there so I can meet an old friend of mine."

The Captain's eyes widened further before he chuckled. Most people here on his vessel would like to start a new life somewhere or want to go on an adventure. But this one, she wants to head to a Ninja Country because she's wants to meet a friend she hasn't seen in who knows how long?

"Well, it could take a while for us to get there, so until then enjoy the ride kid." The Captain left.

Blaze watched as he left before she turns back ahead. "Naruto, I'll be there soon."

* * *

**West Side Island: Metropolis Zone**

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

"HOLD STILL YOU BRATS!"

Naruto and a humanized Tails quickly jumped out of the way as they dodged another set of Nega's drones, before Naruto used his Homing Attack on him, landing a direct hit.

The two were currently in the **Metropolis Zone**, Eggman Nega's very own capital city. After going through the Casino Night Zone, and winning lots and lots of Rings as they journeyed there, they came across a furious Eggman Nega in that Zone after they destroyed one of his Egg Robos.

Once they fought him and released the captive Animals, they continued to follow Nega through Hill Top Zone, which was basically near a volcano where earthquakes happen very few moments.

They beat Nega there and chased him through the Mystic Cave Zone, a deep underground cavern of the mountains, where he's been digging underground in search for the rest of the Chaos Emeralds, which made Naruto laugh at him because he didn't know about the Special Zone.

After going through various routes across the cave, they found themselves falling into a deep dark pit. But what they didn't know was that they were heading into an unknown Zone, which Tails called the Hidden Palace Zone.

They explored the place a little bit, enjoying the amazing scenery as they saw glowing green Emeralds, which oddly enough looked like the Chaos Emeralds, but bigger. But the exploration came to an end when they saw Nega and attacked him.

They gave chase once more before they learned that the underground passageways of Mystic Cave/Hidden Palace lead out to sea as they found themselves in Oil Ocean Zone, scaling slimy oil refineries off the coast of West Side Island.

The two immediately knew that this was Nega's doing. So they traveled through it, going through many obstacles that were in their way and trying to not slip on the oil...or not fall in it. They eventually made their way to Nega and fought him. Once again after defeating him, he escapes to his city the Metropolis Zone.

And let's just say...that place was crawling with Badniks. But Naruto and Tails took care of them all. Now, here they are. Fighting against Nega, only this time he put armor around his Egg Mobile to keep them from damaging it.

"Sheesh Egg Head! You need to chill!" Naruto mocked after dodging another one of those drones before he kicked one and it turned into an image of Nega in his Egg Mobile making him attack it as it disappeared. "You get even more angrier then you're gonna get more wrinkles!"

"GRRR...SILENCE!" Nega roared as he rushed at Naruto as the drones kept circling around him.

"Now Tails!" Naruto shouted.

"Right!" Tails got into his Spin Dash as he charged below the uncovered Egg Mobile as he attacked it, make it shake.

"Stop that!" Nega yelled as he turned to attacked Tails but screamed when Naruto attacked him using multiple Homing Attacks, dazing the mad scientists for a moment.

Naruto and Tails soon grinned as they did a Spin Dash together and charged at the Egg Mobile and knocked it back into a wall. The drones and armor around the Egg Mobile exploded before there was nothing left, making Nega angry.

**Music Ends**

"THIS ISN'T THE END!" Nega yells as he flew away.

"Don't think so!" Naruto exclaimed as he and Tails gave chase. They jumped on top of a Capsule, releasing the Animals, before they exited Metropolis Zone.

They look up in the sky and saw Nega flying up to a giant flying fortress. Naruto's eyes were narrowed while Tails' eyes widened. The Leaf Genin grabs Tails and puts him on his back.

"Hang on little buddy! We getting the Tornado and chasing after that fortress!" Naruto's feet turned into a circular motion as he dashed off to the beach where the Tornado was last left.

"Alright Tails, you pilot and I take the wing!" Naruto said as he jumped on the wing of the Tornado.

"Huh?! Y-You want me to fly it?" Tails asked in a surprise tone.

"Of course!" Naruto grinned as he gave him a thumbs up and wink. "You say you're good with machines right Pal? And you fixed up the Tornado, so how about I give you the honors of flying it?"

"R-Really?" Tails asked.

"Yeah! I trust ya Buddy!" Naruto smiled happily, making the Fox Boy gasp in surprise.

A full blown smile soon appeared on Tails' face as he jumped into the pilot seat. "Alright! Leave it to me!"

The Tornado's engine began to start and in a moment it took off flying high above the sky of West Side Island at a very fast speed.

**Music: Sky Chase Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

"YAHOO!" Naruto cheered. "WAY PAST COOL! At this rate we'll be able to make to that flying fortress in no time!"

"Naruto! Badniks up ahead, be careful!" Tails called out.

Naruto looks ahead, seeing a whole bunch of flying Badniks and grins in excitement. He does a Spin Dash and jumps off the wing as he did a Homing Attack on the Badniks close to him. He landed on a turtle Badnik as he kicked the smaller one off.

He grins again as he did another barrage of Homing Attacks on the Badniks that charged at him. He stood on top of a eagle-like Badnik and rode on it before he jumped off as it crashed into the other Badniks.

"YEAH! Perfect score!" Naruto cheers in the air as he did a flip and landed on the wing of the Tornado. He looks back at Tails and wags a finger as Tails frowned at him. "See Pal? I'm perfectly fine!" He looks ahead and his and Tails' eyes widened as they saw the flying fortress and up close it was even more huge.

"That Flying Fortress is even bigger up close!" Tails exclaimed.

"No problem!" Naruto smirks as he cracked his fingers. "I can take that!"

Naruto's eyes widened in comical shock as he tilt his body to the side, dodging a laser bullet, making Tails' eyes widen as well.

"Whoa! What the-!?"

Tails had to quickly maneuver the Tornado so that he could dodge the incoming projectiles as they got closer and closer to the Flying Fortress.

Once they got close enough, Naruto managed to jump and land on it but a projectile hit the wing of the Tornado, making him lose altitude.

**Music Ends**

"TAILS!" Naruto yelled out as the Tornado began to move away from the Fortress. He tried to use his ESP to bring them on board but he couldn't as the projectiles continued to attack them.

"I can fix it! I can fix it!" Tails exclaimed as he tried to control the altitude.

"It's a plane! You can fly! Leave it!" Naruto called out but Tails kept going further and further away. "TAILS!"

"I can fix it!" Was the last thing Naruto heard as he could only stare in wide eyes.

"Tails…?"

**Music: Wing Fortress Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

A shadow loomed over Naruto's eyes as he shook in rage before he turned around and dashed forward, his eyes flashing red for a moment. As he traveled to the Wing Fortress, he destroyed all of the Badniks that were there. He was jumping all around the place before he went inside.

When he did and ran around, one of the doors suddenly went open and he found himself sucked outside, surprising him, before he used his Chakra to stick on the surface. When he saw another door, he grins as he jumped off the the Fortress and kicked down, making him slide on the floor.

He got off of it and grabbed onto a hook as it sent him flying down, while he dodged the Badniks attacks. Once the hook reached it's end he Spin Dashes down to the glass window, shattering it as he lands on his feet. He looks up, glaring at Eggman Nega, who only stood there smirking at him.

"Found ya Doc!" Naruto walks up to him, an angry look on his face. "You got a lot to answer for Fat Man!"

"Gotcha!" Nega pushed a button and a green energy wall appeared, keeping Naruto in place, who looks back and saw something similar.

"Didn't you try that trick back on South Island?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"Yes. But _this_ time, I'm going to slice you up!" Nega exclaimed.

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto looks behind him and saw spiky platforms come up from above along with a laser beam to cut him down. He turns back Nega, grinning. "Hold on for a moment…"

One of the spike platforms charged at Naruto, who quickly dodged it in time, before he jumped on another one. He hops off of it and slides down under one. He immediately noticed how that laser beam kept making noises. He looks up and saw it was glowing blue before the laser beam fired.

He also noticed how it was traveling towards him, making his eyes widen as looked around for any sort of escape. But there wasn't even enough room for him to dodge it, so he had to back up until his back touched the green forcefield. He looks up at the laser before he saw the laser stop, making him grin.

He does a Homing Attack on it, making it crack, before he used his ESP on one of the spiky platforms and threw it at the laser, making it along with the spiky platforms to explode.

Naruto heard Nega's laughter and he turns to him, seeing he was going down. The forcefield disappeared a couple seconds. He grit his teeth before he destroyed the control panel using his Homing Attack and glares at it.

"That's for Tails. You knock him down, I send your Fortress falling." Naruto jumps down the hole Nega escaped too. He was now outside and he looks up seeing Nega flying away in a rocket. "EGGMAN!" He runs off but stops and watched as Nega flew away.

**Music Ends**

"Shit! I'm going down with the ship!"

"NARUTO!"

Naruto looks back and saw Tails smiling up at him in a fixed Tornado. A bright smile appears on his face. "TAILS!" He hops on the wing. "You're okay!"

"I told you I could fix it!" Tails laughed.

"Alright! You the man, lil' bro!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Haha, thanks!" Tails smiled happily.

"Now let's get Nega!" Naruto pointed at the flying rocket.

"Thrusters engaged!" Tails exclaimed.

The Tornado began to catch up to the rocket as it reached higher and higher to the sky. The Duo began to feel the Tornado shake.

"Naruto! I can't keep it up! The thruster is giving out!" Tails told him.

"Don't worry! Leave the rest to me!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped up and grabbed onto the wing of the rocket while Tails flew back down. The Leaf Genin's eyes widen as he saw they were heading into space. "_You gotta be kidding me…"_ He took a deep breath and held it in as they left Earth's atmosphere and into space.

"_HOLY CRAP!"_ Naruto had his eyes widen comically as he saw a massive metallic orb. "_What the hell is that?! A Space Station or something?! It almost looks like a large weapon! How long has Nega been working on that?"_ He gained a deadpanned expression as he saw Nega's face on the Space Station. "_It's so modesty designed too." _

Naruto's eyes were narrowed as they began to board inside it. It doesn't really matter to him anyway. He'll just have to break it down just like he did with Nega's other toys.

But first…

Naruto gave off a big gasp as soon as the rocket landed inside the space station and he let go of the wing. He looks up and saw Nega running away, making him shake his head as he stood up and walked after him.

"You know what? Tails is fine, and from the looks of things I'm gonna be here for a bit, so I'm not in a hurry." Naruto spoke up, putting his hands behind him. "I'm still gonna kick your sorry ass for trying to kill me all those times and for what you did to the Animals."

Naruto looks out at the window in awe as he saw the Earth down below. It was ...amazing? No, it was beautiful. So that's what his home planet looks like from above.

"Aw man." Naruto whispered. "Such a nice view. If this place wasn't used for evil it would've made a nice little tourist attraction."

"BWA HA HA HA HA HA!" Nega's laughter erupted from the speakers. "Welcome to my **Death Egg**, Naruto-and to your _**doom**_!"

"Death Egg, huh?" Naruto asked as he entered a room and the door closed behind him. "Better name than Scrape Brain, so I'll give you that." He looks at a wall and saw Nega's face on the TV screen as his expression turned half lidded. "So this is why you wanted the Chaos Emeralds, to power up this thing. Where the hell did you even get the money to buy this stuff? Hate to see what your bills are like."

"Joke while you still can, Brat!" Nega exclaimed as a grin formed on his face. "I've been properly prepared for this moment."

**Music: Death Egg Zone [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Now _where_ have I heard that before?"

**THUD!**

The loud noise behind him, made Naruto jump in the air as he looked back. He looks back and saw a big silver metallic spiky ball. The ball soon began to take shape as it started to get bigger, in a humanoid shape, revealing it to be a Badnik.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw that this Badnik looks exactly like him!

It had his spiky hair, though it was razor sharp and it looked like a mohawk. It had his whisker marks though, it didn't have a mouth. It also had glowing red eyes as it glared down at him.

Naruto moved back to dodge an incoming punch as it made a dent into the wall before moved to the side and stared at it in disbelief.

"_Okay_. A Super Badnik that's modeled after me. That's not creepy at all." Naruto commented. "HEY!" He jumped out of the way to dodge the Badnik's Spin Dash. "That's my thing copycat!" He moved to the side as the Badnik charged at him. "_This thing's got some raw power doesn't it? But that means it lacks speed!"_

"Let's see you copy this!" Naruto grinned as he did his signature jutsu. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Three Narutos appear as they charged at the Badnik just as it did Spin Dash at them. They jumped out and went to random directions before their hands had yellow energy.

"**Chaos Spear!"** They shouted as they launched the attack, landing direct hits as it stunned the Badnik. They grinned to each other as they did a Homing Attack, making dents appear around it.

The Badnik got out of it's stunned state as it charged at them, destroying the clones. The Badnik looks around in search for the original.

"I'm here!"

Three Narutos suddenly appears around the Badnik before they created small white and purple bubbles around themselves and the Badnik was instantly destroyed into multiple pieces. Two Narutos disappeared as the original stood in place.

"I gotta think of a name for that technique." Naruto said as he looked at the result of the attack in awe. "How about...**Chaos Smash**?" He grins. "Yeah! Perfect!" He looks to the way where the TV screen was at and saw Nega's shocked expression.

"**Chaos Spear!"** Naruto launched a Chaos Spear at the wall, destroying it, and revealing Nega, who ran away, making Naruto chase after him. "Get back here!"

Nega looks back at Naruto with a grin before he jumps and waves at him, falling down into a hole as the door closed, showing it to be Nega's metallic face, making Naruto stop.

"Oh come on! Now what!?" Naruto yelled in annoyance.

"Now?"

**Music: Death Egg Robot [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto's eyes slowly widened in shock as a giant robotic mech suit, that bears a heavy resemblance to Eggman Nega rose up from the floor and Naruto found himself tensing up, sweat beginning to run down his face, as the mech began to move.

"Now you **die**!" Nega exclaimed as the mech took a step, making Naruto step back.

"Oh...shit." Naruto muttered.

The Death Egg Robot fired it's arms at Naruto, who quickly dodged out of the way.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"** A whole army of Narutos appeared as they charged at the Battle Mech.

"You have been a real pain in my egg, Naruto!" Nega exclaimed as the Mech moved its arms around, destroying some clones and slamming the real Naruto to the ground as Rings were knocked out of him. "You have destroyed my precious Badniks, humiliated me in our fights, and worst of all, you have taken all of the Chaos Emeralds from me!"

"They were never yours to begin!" Naruto exclaimed as he launched multiple Chaos Spears at the Robot, only for them to get deflected and get sent into random directions as they destroyed the rest of clones.

"With their power, I could've ruled the world already and build my Eggman Empire!" Nega exclaimed as Naruto charged at him. The Robot fired it's arm at him but he dodged it and ran on it. "But you and that little sidekick of yours have been in my way! BUT NOT THIS TIME!"

Naruto's eyes widen as he got thrown off the arm and got caught as it slammed him a hard into a wall, making him gasp in pain as Rings came out of him. Once the Mech released him, he fell into the ground and began to cough just as the Mech began to fly upwards.

Naruto runs forward as the Mech fell down to where he was at. But then his eyes widened as he saw a bomb was in front of him, making him jump away before the explosion blew him into the window, making cracks form as he fell on the floor again.

Naruto coughed and looks up at the giant Mech in front of him.

"Once I kill you, the Chaos Emeralds _will_ be mine and when they are, no one, not your sidekick, not even your whole Ninja Village, will stop me!" Nega mocked.

The Death Egg Robot raised its foot up, to stomp Naruto like a bug. But instead of getting scared, Naruto grins confidently as he stood up and the foot slammed down onto him.

"YES!" Nega cheered but quickly noticed something as he saw glowing colors underneath the foot. "Wha-!?"

"...You want these emeralds?" Naruto asked from underneath the foot as he held a hand up, stopping the foot. He looks up at Nega, his eyes now red.

A bright yellow light erupted from Naruto as it pushed the Death Egg Robot away, making it fall on it's back. It stood back up and it's eyes went comically wide.

"What in the world!?" Nega asked.

**Music: Super Sonic [Sonic the Hedgehog 2]**

Naruto is floating above him and he is covered in a golden aura. His spiky hair is now upwards and it was more golden yellow as the crimson stripes were gone.

However, the front part of his hair has three tufts sticking out. Each in different colors, and were floating upwards. On the left side it was crimson, the middle was blue, and the right was white. His outfit has also turned yellow, aside from his shoes. The cyan marks on his palms were glowing yellow.

Naruto grins as he smacked his fists together. "Allow me to give them to you, **Super Naruto** style!" He zooms through the Battlemech, in a yellow flash, for a second before going through it multiple times again before he lands on the ground.

The Death Egg Robot exploded after that before Super Naruto noticed the whole Death Egg started to explode.

**Ending 1: The Shining Road**

***Instruments***

"Uh-oh. I'm outta here!" Super Naruto exclaimed as he flew off, just as the the explosions erupted from behind him and he was out of the Death Egg.

**The world around us is so magical**

**But now it's been placed under a spell**

Down at Emerald Hill Zone, Tails and the Animals looked up at the sky, seeing the large explosion. The young boy quickly went to the Tornado and waved goodbye to the Animals before he took off flying.

**My love, come with me and together we shall search to find a charm**

**We'll travel to the land of our dreams where forbidden dreams just may come true**

Up in space, Super Naruto started to fly back into Earth's atmosphere before he sighed in relief as he was back to the clear blue sky, he always enjoyed. He looks all over his body in awe.

So this is the power of the Chaos Emeralds! It was an incredible feeling! Is this what Sonic, Shadow and Silver felt when they used their power?

Super Naruto soon frowned as he realized just how extremely these Emeralds were if they allowed him to transform like this and the fact that guys like Eggman Nega are after them. Well he won't let that happen!

**When we're alone tomorrow, we will sneak away and secretly meet**

**Up on top of a hill, where there are birds everywhere and we can be all alone**

Super Naruto blinked as he looked back and saw Tails flying the Tornado with some birds following him. Super Naruto grins as he spins around the Tornado while Tails looked in awe at that.

The two continued to fly before they saw a nearby island and decided to head there for a well deserved break.

**I know someday, I'll hold your hand. While we sit alone in the morning mist**

**And the seal in our way, of our shining road will be broken**

Back on the ship, Blaze looks up as she, along with many of the people on the ship, saw the explosion in space, making her wonder what was that. And...what was this feeling she just felt in her heart?

The Princess puts her hand to her chest and continued to stare at the sky. This feeling in her heart...there was just one thing that would make her heart feel like this. It was Naruto. It had to be! She just knew Naruto had something to do with what happened just now!

**Till the end of time**

Blaze had a soft smile on her face as she shook her head. No way. Her excitement of seeing her best friend again is making her imagine things. She looks out into the clear blue ocean.

"What are you doing now? You big dummy." She giggled.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

**Insert Song: My Sweet Passion [Sonic Adventure]**

Inside a nice little house, it was dark, except for a few lighted candles, and a young girl is seen looking at her tarot cards. She gasps before she squeals in excitement.

"Yes! Yes! YES! I'm finally going to meet the Hero of My Dreams at Never Lake!" She shouted happily before she ran outside her house.

The girl looked between 11-12 years of age. Her eye color is green. She has pink spiky hair in the shape of spines and some tufts of it sticking out in the front. She wore an orange ruffled/pleated skirt, a white shirt with puffed green sleeves, white and blue running shoes with orange shoelaces, white wrist-length gloves and a red hairband.

She had a bright happy smile on her face as she runs to her red buggy vehicle. She starts the engine and drove off.

"Here I come, Naruto Uzumaki!"

* * *

Naruto suddenly felt a chill run up his spine for some reason, making him become stiff.

"What's the matter Naruto?" Tails asked, noticing his best friend's stiff form.

"I just had a creepy chill down my spine." Naruto replied in a stiff tone while Tails tilt his head to the side in confusion. "_Why do I get the feeling that something is going to happen soon?"_

Oh, you have no idea Naruto.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ta dah! Were you guys surprised about seeing Tails having a _both_ a human _and_ fox form? That's why I made that little tease in the last chapter.

I know in the original version of this fic my brother wanted Tails to remain as a fox. But in this new remastered version, I decided to change everything, especially with certain characters from Sonic's World being reborn as humans in Naruto's World.

Now Tails' background will be EXTREMELY different here than in Sonic's World, especially in regards to him having human and fox forms. How different? Not telling but it will be teased in the future.

And it came to my attention that I never told you how Naruto knew Dr. Nega's name in the last chapter and how he knows Tails' name from first glance. Here's the short version; think Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series and his special connection to Ventus. It's the same thing with Naruto and his connections to Sonic, Shadow and Silver.


	8. Ultimate 8

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1 [V2]: Sonic Drive [English]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera before it changed to show Naruto running with a serious frown on his face.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures appears: One is Naruto giving a thumbs up and grin. The second is Tails, both his human and fox forms together, doing a pose and smiling at the readers. The third is Amy doing a pose, with her hands behind her back, smiling cutely. The fourth is Knuckles grinning and posing. The last pic is Blaze, her arms crossed and back turned to the viewers, looking over her shoulder.

The scene changes to show a falling Chaos Emerald.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appears: One is Dr. Eggman Nega grinning evilly at the viewers. The second are various Badniks appearing comically. The third is Robo Naruto in a pose. The fourth is Metal Naruto in a pose based on Metal Sonic's artwork from Sonic Channel. The last pic is the Masked Boy in a stance of sorts.

The scene changes again to the Leaf Village, more specifically the Hokage Mountain.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The camera zooms in on the mountain before it goes up to the clear blue sky to reveal the title:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

***Instruments***

Naruto was falling down to South Island before he used his Telekinesis to land down as he looks around in shock and disbelief.

He then notices a bunch of Badniks kidnapping Animals, making him frown seriously before he begins to destroy them and then runs ahead.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today**

**The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is running across the Zones of South Island before he stopped and was face to face with Eggman Nega, who was fuming at the sight of him. Naruto smirks and does a Spin Dash and charged at him.

Later, Naruto has the six Chaos Emeralds as they vanished and large flowers appeared on South Island. He grins as he turns to the Tornado.

**If I don't keep running**

**There's no other meaning**

The scene changes to show Naruto landing the Tornado on West Side Island as Tails comes flying towards him but he sneezes as he changed between his fox form and human form before taking on his fox form.

An explosion is heard, making Tails jump up as they turned and saw Eggman Nega laughing evilly before he flies away.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins at Tails as he gave him thumbs up, making him nod happily and the two raced forward across the Zones.

**Biorhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

The scene changes to show Naruto inside the Death Egg as he battled against Robo Naruto before destroying him. The Death Egg shook and Naruto heard something behind him. He looks bafk him and saw the Death Egg Robot getting ready to stomp him.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

Naruto grins as the Chaos Emeralds appeared around him before he absorbed them and transformed into Super Naruto.

He grins up at the Death Egg Robot before he charged at him and out of the Death Egg as it exploded. He winks and gives a thumbs up to the viewers.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack**

**Surpass everything altogether**

**I won't let anyone**

**Or anything get ahead of me**

The scene change to show Naruto running across a green field. Something caught his attention as he stops and looks up, seeing a planet chained to a mountain. He runs up to the mountain till he was at the top.

He Spin Dash down the mountain before he jumped off the ramp and landed on the chain as he ran on it, heading towards the planet.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!**

**Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!**

**"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar**

**That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

Blaze is riding on a boat, looking at the horizon with a soft smile present on her face.

At the Stardust Speedway Zone on Little Planet, the Masked Boy watches on as Naruto and Metal Naruto were racing on a track. Amy Rose is seen crying for head at the end of the track, while Eggman Nega chases after them with a laser beam on his Egg Mobile.

Naruto soon got in front of Metal Naruto as he reached his hand out to Amy.

**Throw boredom away**

**And start running**

The Death Egg is seen falling from the sky and landing on Angel Island, causing it to fall the ocean.

The Guardian of the Island, Knuckles, see's it falling. He runs over to where the Death Egg landed to investigate.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Amy hugging a blushing Naruto happily. The second is Naruto and Tails are flying to Angel Island. The third is Naruto fighting against Knuckles. The fourth is Blaze running across the jungle. The last pic is the Masked Boy leaning on the Altar of the Emeralds.

The scene changes to show the Master Emerald, with the Chaos Emeralds surrounding it. The Chaos Emeralds then transform into Super Emeralds.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is Dr. Nega taking the Master Emerald from its shrine, with Knuckles grabbing onto his Egg Mobile while Naruto and Tails chase after them. The second pic is Naruto and Tails running through the Sky Sanctuary, seeing the Death Egg rising in the background. The third pic is Naruto up in space as he looks back at a giant mech with the Master Emerald inside it, a comical shocked look on his face. The last pic is the mural from the Hidden Palace Zone.

The scene changes to show Naruto giving a mighty roar as his body started to glow in a rainbow color.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

A silhouette of Naruto's new transformation is seen, with his back turned to the readers, a rainbow aura covering his being. The camera zooms in on his back as he looks over his shoulder, showing his now purple eye.

* * *

**Ultimate 8: Naruto CD! Naruto vs Metal Naruto!**

**Cover Image: **Naruto and Metal Naruto are charging into one another with blue and purple auras surrounding them respectively in a black background. (Based on Japan's Sonic CD Boxart)

* * *

**Insert Song: Toot Toot Sonic Warrior [Sonic CD]**

Naruto is running across the green fields. He runs to a circular tree as he ran around it for a few moments before he continued on ahead as he jumped from tree to tree. He runs across the river, making it splash in the air as a rainbow is seen.

He does a Spin Dash as he went through a large log and got out of it.

"_It's been two days since I fought Nega on his Death Egg and crashed it down somewhere. Two days since I've been separated from everyone back home."_ Naruto thought to himself as he jumped on a bunch of pointy rocks. "_I wonder what they're doing right now...they're probably worried sick about me, especially the Old Man."_

The Ultimate Ninja continues to run ahead, thinking on the days that passed after him and Tails had been on that Island, after the battle. Him and Tails had taken a little break and decided to talk some more. Well, Tails mostly asked him questions on the things that he were able to do and what his village was like.

Tails went starry eyed as he listened to the tales Naruto told him. When he asked him if he could learn Chakra, Naruto would've been happy to teach him everything but it would take years to learn it and Tails haven't gained access to it.

But he didn't mind. After all, he was able to keep up with him using his tails and he does have the gadgets he invents, making Naruto laugh.

Naruto runs up a tall mountain as he reached the top. He looks up with a surprised expression as he saw small planet that looked metallic and saw it was attached to a chain.

Normally, Naruto would be awe-struck. But seeing a Planet on a chain didn't sit well with him.

"Okaaay, from what Tails told me, Little Planet shows up here at Never Lake only once a year." Naruto said as he stared at the large Planet before looking at the chain and following it. "So why is it chained to a mountain? And who would-oh come on!"

Naruto twitched his eyebrow in annoyance. On the mountain is a carving of Eggman Nega's face and the chain is attached to that face.

"Of course he would be responsible for something like this." He said as he got ready to run. "Now let's see what he's up too this time."

"WAIT! WAIT A SECOND!"

**Song Stops**

For some scary and bizarre reason, Naruto felt a chill running down his spine as he heard that voice. The voice sounded like a girl but to Naruto it sounds _very_ familiar, which is impossible since he doesn't know who that voice belong to.

Naruto looks down and saw said girl climbing up the mountain to get to him. She has pink hair, with a spiky hairstyle similar to his own but tufts of it sticking out. She also has bright green eyes.

"_S-Sakura!?"_ Naruto thought before he shook his head. No way was this girl Sakura, despite the resemblance to each other. Plus, Sakura had a...a...big forehead and was flat as a board. "_If Sakura heard me say that she would literally kill me. And this girl, why does she look familiar to me…?"_

The girl sat on a cliff that was big enough for her, wiping the sweat off her head. "Phew!" She looks up at Naruto, smiling in excitement. "Hi! My name is-"

"Amy!" Naruto suddenly cried out happily, much to her surprise. He blinks and gasp as he placed his hand in front of his mouth.

Where the hell did that come from? First Eggman, then Tails and now her. How does he know these names already when he never met them?! Could they be…?

"Um, I mean, that's your name right?" Naruto asked trying to play cool.

Amy still looked surprised that her hero knew her name but she ended up smiling happily. "Yup! My name is Amy Rose! But how did you know?"

"Well...er…" Naruto couldn't just tell her that her name popped into his head. So he looked at his hands and saw the cyan marks. "I'm psychic! Yeah that's it!" He told her, which wasn't a lie but also wasn't the true.

It's true that he has psychokinesis but he don't have the power to read others mind.

"Cooool!" Amy said in awe as Naruto chuckled nervously before coughing.

"Anyway, nice to meet you Amy." Naruto grins and does a pose. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the world's Ultimate Ninja and future Hokage of the Leaf Village!"

"Really?" Naruto asked surprised, getting out of his pose. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a sheepish grin on his face. "Wow, guess I'm pretty popular huh?"

"Of course you are!" Amy smiled happily. "That's why I was so excited to learn we were destined meet here!"

"Yeah! We were destined to meet here!" Naruto blinks as a comical confused expression was on his face as he turns to Amy. He picked his ear out to make sure he heard her right. "Uh, wanna run that by me again?"

"My fortune said I'd meet the Hero of My Dreams here, and these cards never lie!" Amy told him in excitement. She took out a five tarot cards, showing Naruto what was on the cards as he took them and examined them.

One had an image of a boy in the center and around him were three normal looking hedgehogs that were blue, black and white.

The second card showed an image of a sleeping Naruto. On the opposite side was a boy in a mask.

The third card had a close up of Naruto's face but with major differences. His left eye was crimson red, with a slit, and his right eye was green, with a slit as well. On the left side he was shrouded in a crimson cloak and on the right side he had pale blue skin. In the background, there was an image of a fox on the left side, and a dark entity on the right.

The fourth card has an image of Naruto and the Masked Boy charging at each other, with an army behind them. In the background, there was an image of a female in white clothes, behind Naruto and his army, and there was a red demon of some sort, behind the Masked Boy and his army.

Finally, the last card showed some monsters and Naruto with a golden aura in the center as though he was fighting them all.

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the cards, with clear images of himself on each and every one of them. "_W-What the hell…!?"_ He knew that these tarot cards had something to do with fortune telling, meaning telling the future, but he had _no idea_ what some of the cards meant.

The first card is obviously about him meeting Sonic, Shadow and Silver as he had inherited their powers. The second card must mean about that Masked Boy he saw before he blasted him in the sky.

But the third one is what threw Naruto into a loop as he stared at it in confusion and nervousness. The left side represented the Nine-Tailed Fox's power obviously, with said beast behind him. But the right side...and that dark entity that was behind him...he didn't know _what_ that was!

Wait a second, does this mean Amy knows about the Nine-Tails inside of him?! But she doesn't even seem remotely freaked about it. Could it be...does she not care about the Fox inside of him?

Now, this fourth card is what made Naruto confused the most. The card showed him and the Masked Boy fighting against each other, with an army behind each of them. The woman in white looked like a goddess and she seems to be fighting on his side while the demon is on the Masked Boy's side.

And the last card, which showed some monsters and him as Super Naruto.

One of the monsters looked like...a beast with ten tails and a woman hovering above it. The second monster looked like a robot dragon, which for some reason gave him an odd sense of déjà vu. The third monster looked like a purple alien with a big black mouth. The fourth monster was completely covered in purple mist with what looked like gears on it's back. The fifth monster looked like that dark entity from the last card.

Just what does it all...No. Right now, he can put a pin on that subject at a later date. He has to hurry and focus on stopping Nega.

Naruto gave the cards back to Amy. "And those cards specifically say Never Lake, this mountain, today?"

"Well, some of these cards right here depict something that'll happen in the future, but other than that, yup!" Amy said happily. She shyly hides behind her cards, looking at Naruto with a half lidded gaze. "As long as you know how to interpret them."

"I see." Naruto said. _Very_ interesting indeed. So those cards did represent a future of what's to come soon. He will _definitely_ come back on this subject at a later date.

"So now that we met my Destined Hero." Amy continued. "I promise to follow you anywhere!" Hearts appeared around her.

"Um, I don't know about that." Naruto said with an uncertain expression.

"Huh?" Amy blinked. "Why not?"

"If your fortune said that we were to meet here then you should known that where I'm going will be crawling with Robots and very dangerous." Naruto said, seriously. "So head back home."

"But-!" Before Amy could continue, Naruto jumped and Spin Dashed down the mountain as he started to move faster and faster.

He flies off the ramp and into the air before he landed on the chain and dashed to Little Planet.

* * *

**Music: Palmtree Panic (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto found himself looking around at the beauty of Palmtree Panic. The place looks very tropical and had mountains and waterfalls.

"Whoa! This place is beautiful!" He exclaimed. He continued to walk as he looks around. "I don't get it. Before I came here, the Planet looked mechanical but now that I'm here it's not. So what's going on?"

Naruto's thoughts then went to Amy Rose. He began to wonder how she even managed to get all the way to Never Lake. Plus, she seems like a real nice girl who likes to do fortunes and stuff like that.

But having her come along would've been dangerous. Sure he brought Tails along with him back on West Side Island, but he's a kid who was lonely all his life and was bullied. Plus he's good with machines and learned how to do the Spin Dash the moment he saw him do it. In other words, Tails is able to handle himself pretty well.

"But...now that I'm thinking about…" Naruto stops walking and looks down. "I just met her and she apparently has good fortune telling. I wonder...if Amy must be lonely too."

Maybe he should try and be friends with her after this whole thing is over. Though he did find the whole 'Hero of My Dreams' thing somewhat weird.

Hearing buzzing noises made Naruto stop as he looks up and saw multiple mosquito-like Badniks, Mosqui. They soon charged at Naruto, who only had held his hand, covering them in cyan aura, before closing his fist and destroying them, watching as lights came falling down to the ground before they turned to flowers.

Naruto's eyes were narrowed as he began to do his new technique the Super Peel Out, turning his legs into the figure 8, before he dashed off.

"Okay, I know for a fact that I didn't blow up the Death Egg _that_ long ago." Naruto does a Spin Attack on the Pata-Bata Badniks before taking off again and going through the loop. "So how did Nega build so much stuff up here?"

He did a Spin Dash on the Anton Badniks before moving on.

"It's like he's been here for _years_! Just what's going on?" Naruto continued to ask. He soon went past a sign that read 'Past', before he looks up in confusion. "Hey, did someone just say 'Past'?"

Naruto soon screams as he found himself going through a green tunnel. Once he got out, he immediately stops to a grinding halt as he looks around in comical shock.

"What the hell is this?!"

**Music: Palmtree Panic (Past) [Sonic CD]**

Palmtree Panic now looked like a prehistoric coast, with short purple mountains and a turquoise sky.

"Okay, don't panic Naruto. You're still in the same place, it just looks...different. Matter of fact it almost looks like as if the place is _starting_ to form" Naruto looks around some more before he noticed something.

It was a large machine about the size of Dr. Eggman Nega in his Egg Mobile. It is mostly black with both ends of its 'shell' parts being silver. These 'shells' also appear to have yellow, black and red stripes, and are divided by three columns of electricity.

And here's the thing…

Badniks are coming out of the machine.

"Nope!" Naruto exclaimed as he destroyed the machine and it made seeds fall to the ground and grow into flowers. He looks at the destroyed with a raised brow before he moved forward.

"Seriously...what's going on with this strange Planet? And why does this Zone look different?" Naruto placed a hand under his chin. "I mean all I did was run past the sign...that had "Past" on it…" His eyes widened comically as he looked around frantically. "HOLD UP! DID THAT SIGN TAKE ME TO THE PAST OF THIS ZONE!?"

But that could only mean...HOLY CRAP YOU CAN TIME TRAVEL ON THIS PLANET?! HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?! Wait, if he time traveled to the past on Little Planet, doesn't that mean on the outside world he's in the Past as well or does it only apply here?

Naruto blinked as he finally figured it out. "So that's it! Nega must've discovered that Little Planet had those...Time Warp things, and he used them to Time Travel into the past and build that machine...that Badnik Factory!" He had confused expression on his face. "Or...he already has? Or would have? Or...no wait..."

Smoke began to rise out of Naruto's head as he felt his brain getting fried.

"Oh man, my brain's on fire!" He exclaimed. "So that's why there were Badniks there in the future…" He looks up thoughtfully. "Or is it present for me? Or…" He stops talking with a comical blank look on his face. He turns to the readers with a half lidded expression.

"You know what guys? I think I got it. Time Travel to the Past and make sure the Future hasn't gone to Hell because of Nega. Now that that's settled, I'm off."

Naruto runs off as he destroyed the few Badniks that were there. He stops again as he saw what looks like a hologram of himself, stomping an Animal.

"What the hell?" Naruto deadpanned as he stared at the hologram before he realized something. "Now that I'm thinking about, I haven't seen any local Animals in the Present. Which means…"

Nega probably used this Projector to make the Animals here scared of him in the Future.

"Now that's not right." Naruto destroyed the Projector before he saw the Future Time Warp Plate. "Time to head back." He does the Super Peel Out and went past the Plate as he vanished.

**Music: Palmtree Panic (Present) [Sonic CD]**

"Hey! I'm back!" Naruto exclaimed before he saw no Badniks in sight. "Alright! Now to find Nega!"

"Come on! Where are they?!"

"And speak of the devil." Naruto grins as he runs to the voice.

There below him, he saw Nega in a giant walker with Bumpers placed on its arms. His machine's feet are protected with spikes. It would seem like he's looking for something.

"Yo! Egg Head!" Naruto called out, getting Nega's attention as he turns around in shock.

"You again!? Think you can stop my plans this time you arrogant Brat?!"

"Um…" Naruto jumps down as he began to walk up to him.

"Well think again!" Nega continued as he grins confidently. "The power of the fabled Time Stones will be mine! And once I rewrite history, all the minor setbacks you dealt me won't just be history-they won't be _at all_!"

"Huh. So that's why you're here." Naruto said, much to Nega's confusion before he realized it.

"...you were completely here by accident."

"Yup!"

"And I just spilled my entire plan to you."

"Again, yup!"

**Music: Boss [Sonic CD]**

"Well, phooey!" Nega deadpanned before he grins. "WELL, ONCE I HAVE THE TIME STONES, THAT WON'T MATTER, EITHER!"

Naruto moves to the side as he dodged the stomping of Nega's machine, along with the spikes. He does a Spin Dash but got blocked by one of the Bumpers as he got bounced back.

"Ha!" Nega laughed.

"Oh yeah? "Ha" this Doc!" Naruto Spin Dashed below the Walker before he did a Homing Attack to the legs and arms, knocking them off his Egg Mobile.

**Music Ends**

"Impossible!" Nega cried out in disbelief. "I had everything reinforced! It's like the parts have become weaker over night!" He stared at Naruto with a raised brow. "Does that mean he already…"

"All right Eggman." Naruto called out. "Come down here so you unchain this Planet-GAH!" He got tackled to the ground by a pink blur. He looks down and his eyes widened as the pink blur is Amy.

"AMY?!"

"Ah-HA!" Found you!" Amy said happily.

Nega's eyes widened before he laughed as he flew away. "Ha! I'll figure out this potential Time Travel tomfoolery, later! First, I need to capitalize on this new player to the game!" He disappeared from sight.

Naruto groaned before he turns Amy in slight comical annoyance. "Thanks a lot Amy. Now Eggman got away." He turns to walk away as Amy followed him.

"I'm sorry, Naruto!" She apologized. "I was just so happy that I caught up to you…"

"Yeah, about that, how?!" Naruto asked as they entered a new Zone.

**Music: Collision Chaos (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Amy smiled happily. "I told you I'd follow you wherever you went! I may not be as fast as you, but I'm ten times more determined!"

Naruto stared at her blankly as multiple sweat drops appeared on his head. "That's impressive. And somewhat creepy. But I respect that determination of yours." He finished with a grin as she giggled. "But seriously though, you _really_ should head home like I told you."

"But we were…"

"I know, we were 'destined to meet'!" Naruto groaned as he jumps up and landed on an edge. He looks back at Amy. "We met! Now hurry and get outta here before something bad happens."

"But I'm not afraid!" Amy said as hearts were hovering around her. "As long as I'm with you, nothing bad will happen."

**CRASH!**

"YOWZA!" Naruto quickly jumps out of the way as a yellow electric shield came bursting through the spikes in front of him, destroying them before it landed behind Amy.

"What was that!?" Amy asked as she turns around to see what landed behind her.

Her along with Naruto's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. There before them was a robot...that looks _exactly_ like Naruto!

This Naruto Double has the real one's spiky sun-kissed hair with red stripes, though it was metallic. It wore a metal mouthplate that had whisker marks. It's eyes had black sclera and red irises. On it's chest, is a yellow circular depression with a black center. It's outfit is quite similar to Naruto's own except they were metallic. It also wore black rings on its wrists, similar to Naruto's. It's skin however was completely silver.

"What the fuck…?" Naruto whispered, wide eye as he stared at his double. This Robot looks like him, it's scary! That Robo Naruto from the Death Egg bore little resemblance to him, but this one...it's like looking into a mirror!

"What is that!?" Amy took a step back fearfully but screamed as she got grabbed by the Robot Naruto.

"AMY! Let her go, you faker!" Naruto exclaimed as he did Spin Dash at it, only to get caught in a blue aura, making his eyes widen as he saw the Robot's hand out and saw the blue glowing circle on it's palm. "What the-!?"

He got pushed back into a wall, making him gasp in pain before he got thrown down.

"NO! NARUTO! HELP ME!" Amy cried out as the Naruto Double flew off, taking her with it, and vanished from sight.

"Amy... " Naruto's eyes were narrowed before he stood on his feet. That thing was fast. Very fast. He soon took off after them, going through the Zone.

It was clearly obvious that Nega called in that Fake Naruto so he can use her as hostage, add to the fact that he's also searching for these Time Stones.

"_But then again, Nega did use the Time Warp Plates to travel back to the Past and leave his Badnik Factories across the Zones. He's probably using that as a way to try and get them."_ He thought to himself as he went ran past the Future plate and vanished.

**Music: Collision Chaos (Bad Future) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto blinks as he looked around Collision Chaos and what he saw made him sick.

Instead of the unusual psychedelic mechanized forest with a well-established casino he just came from, this version must be the Bad Future.

The darkened sky adorned with red clouds, and seems to be haunted with gray machines. While it still remain functional and colorful while showing a dark future for any passerby at the same time.

There seem to be no plants present here, and the signs are still illegible but fully functional. The lake here looks to be teeming with radioactive waste, as evidenced by its reddish-orange tint.

"..." A comical blank look appeared on Naruto's face. "I think I better head back to the Past." He ran back looking for the Past plate before he found it and ran past it, making him vanish.

**Music: Collision Chaos (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Making it back to the Present, Naruto saw the same Past signpost, just in a different spot. He used his Super Peel Out and dashed to the post before he vanished.

**Music: Collision Chaos (Past) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto looks around. "Huh. It looks almost like the Present." He took off running. "Time to find that Factory and Projector."

As he made it across the Zone, he stumbled upon some Rings and grabbed them before he destroyed some Badniks. He jumped on a red Spring as it bounced him up. He found the Badnik Factory and destroyed it, before he began his search for the Projector.

Eventually, he found it and destroyed the Projector.

"Sweet! Now that that's done, the future must be okay!" Naruto exclaimed. Just before he could look for a Time Warp, he gasped as he saw Giant Ring floating in the sky. His eyes widened in realization. "No way…the Time Stones...are in the Special Zone here."

He grins as he jumped inside the Ring.

* * *

**Music: Special Stage [Sonic CD]**

"Whoa!" Naruto fell down and landed on his feet. He looks around the Special Zone. His eyes widened in awe. "Cooool."

This Special Zone was way different than the ones on South Island and West Side Island. If there was one thing to describe this place is that it looks like winding roads on top of pool and the sky looked...strange.

"Hmm…" Naruto placed his hand under his chin. "In the Special Zone on South Island, I had to go through a rotating maze. On West Side Island, Tails and I had to collect the right amount of Rings, while running on a halfpipe. So what do I gotta do here to get the Time Stones?"

He looks up and saw six UFOs hovering in the air. He raised a brow at that before he had a vision and he saw Sonic attacking the UFOs before he gained a Time Stone.

"Ha! Piece of cake!" Naruto did his signature Jutsu. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

…

Nothing happened.

Naruto looks shocked as he did it again. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!" **

…

Still nothing.

Naruto was stunned. What the hell happened? Why couldn't he use his Jutsu? It's like something is preventing him from...that's it!

"...The Zone is keeping me from using my Jutsu. This is supposed to be a challenge and it doesn't want me to cheat." He looks up at the sky before he grins. "So that's it huh? Okay…" He did his Spin Attack, destroying a UFO before charging at the rest. "Bring it on!"

As Naruto runs on the winding road, he caught sight of the other UFOs moving around in the air. He did his Spin Attack on one before he threw two Kunai at the other two, destroying them.

He ran to the last two, doing a Homing Attack on one and doing a mid-air Spin Dash on the last one.

He landed on the ground and looks around for the Time Stone. He saw a light surrounding him and he looks up, seeing a green milled amethyst. Naruto quickly deduced it was the Time Stone as it was falling down to his hands.

A bright light erupted from the stone, making Naruto cover his eyes.

**Music: Collision Chaos (Good Future) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto uncovers his eyes and he shook his head. He looks around and his eyes widened in awe. "Whoa! Is this the Good Future!?"

The good future shows a futuristic, blue colored, inviting casino with a bright pink sky. Plants are futuristic and natural adding pleasing attractions to the "casinotopia", while the waters below are crisp and clean.

"It's...beautiful!" Naruto said in awe as stars appeared in his eyes. They return to normal as he looks down at the Time Stone before holding it up in front of his face. "So...this is a Time Stone. It almost looks like a Chaos Emerald."

To think that there are seven of these Stones much like the Chaos Emeralds. Not only that, but they can also allow him to travel through time without the need of a Chaos Emerald! And that means he can travel anywhere, or when, whenever he wants! Including...

"Mom and Dad…" Naruto whispered

Once he gets all of the Time Stones, he'll be able to travel to the past of that fateful day. The day when his parents died and when the Nine-Tails attacked.

"I'll...I'll be able to save them." Naruto said softly. "I'll be able to save mom and dad from that day."

Yes! Yes! He'll save them both from their deaths and have them in his life as he grows up.

All the things he's never experienced before without his parents around; holding him whenever he's scared, scolding him when he did something bad, stupid or even dangerous, reading him bed time stories at night, saying that they love him or that they're proud of him, etc.

All those things he never experienced, he'll be able too once he saves them and it brought a happy smile to his face!

"YES!" Naruto said in excitement as he jumped in the air. "One down, six to go! And with this time traveling thing, I won't have to keep Amy waiting for long! Hang on Amy, I'm coming!"

He runs off as he left Collision Chaos and was now entering a new Zone.

**Music: Tidal Tempest (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto stood on top of a cliff as he stared at the new Zone; Tidal Tempest.

It is an underwater region that strongly resembles Labyrinth Zone, making Naruto groan in annoyance. It rests at the base of many volcanoes and rocky structures. Pipes carry water from one area to another, with stone pillars adorning certain parts of the zone.

"God damn it, another Labyrinth!" Naruto cursed in comical annoyance. "Alright, let's go!" He Spin Dash down the cliff before he landed in the water and into a pipe as it took him down further. "_Oh man…"_

Naruto began to run, catching some air bubbles and Rings before he jumped up a platform. He looks up at another platform and saw a Past Plate. He jumps up at that platform and runs past hearing that voice again.

But since he was slow underwater, he had to get out of there. So he continued forward before he found a yellow Spring. The Spring bounced him up until he was out of the water and landed on the platform.

He soon does the Super Peel Out and as he reached the high speed, he vanished.

**Music: Tidal Tempest (Past) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto skids to halt as he looked around at the Tidal Tempest's Past.

It is an underground cavern that has been untouched by mankind or machinery; strangely, it features pipes similar to those in the present. Stone pillars take a different shape here and the water level is fairly low, giving the caverns a darkened tint if stepped into

"Huh. Kind of looks like a jungle or something." Naruto said before he looks below and he saw the Badnik Factory. He smiles happily. "Sweet, already found the Factory!" He Spin Dashed towards it and destroyed it. He continues on ahead to find the Projector and at least a Giant Ring.

After destroying a few Badniks here and there, he destroyed the Projector and moved on ahead. He looks ahead and saw a Giant Ring. He jumps up and enters it.

* * *

**Music: Special Stage [Sonic CD]**

Naruto falls down before he took off running. He looks up and saw a UFO coming at him, making him jump up and destroy it. He continues forward as he kept turning left and right on the winding roads. He looks up, seeing three UFOs in different places, so he destroyed the one closest to him.

He looks at the other two before he took two Shuriken and threw them at the UFOs, managing to get both. He turns to the last two, seeing how they're far from each other on the road.

He runs to one and destroyed it before turning to the last one, a grin on his face. He charges at it before he did his Homing Attack, completing the challenge.

Naruto looks up and saw a Time Stone falling to him, and this one is orange colored. He closed his eyes once he caught it as a white light erupted from it.

**Music: Tidal Tempest (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto runs forward as he realized he was back in the Present.

"Okay, now hopefully I can find another Giant Ring in this place." He said as he destroyed some Badniks and collected some Rings.

He does a Spin Dash on a hill before he ended up falling into those water pipes as it took him back underwater. He jumps up a platform, destroying a Ring Box that was there, and then jumps up another platform, before he felt himself being pushed forward forcefully.

The Ultimate Ninja fell but not before catching some air bubbles. He saw a red Spring and he jumps on it as it bounces him up and out of the water. He soon saw the Future Time Plate in front of him.

"Meh, might as well, check it out." He does the Super Peel Out and went past the post as he quickly vanished.

**Music: Tidal Tempest (Good Future) [Sonic CD]**

"Not that's what I'm talking about!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran across the Zone, smiling happily.

The Good Future is a fully operational, turquoise aquarium that harbors much plant life in hydroponic cases. Fish swim freely through the water, which features a pleasant light-turquoise tint when entered. The water level is at its highest point.

Naruto had ran across the water as it splashes in the air. All the Animals that were in the area followed after Naruto as he jumped from platform to platform and want back to running on the water. He bounced on a red Spring and continued on before he saw a Giant Ring appear in front of him, making him jump inside it.

* * *

**Music: Special Stage [Sonic CD]**

"At the rate this is going, I might be able to get the Time Stones in no time!" Naruto exclaimed as he destroyed a UFO.

He turns to the right and looks up, seeing a UFO going back and forth between a large gap of the pool. With the right moment, he Spin Attacks it, going over the gap before charging at the others. He does a Homing Attack on four UFOs.

"Alright! Four Hit Combo! And I managed to get all six!" Naruto jumps up and grabbed a yellow Time Stone. "3 down, 4 to go!" He closed his eyes as he felt the bright light.

* * *

**Music: Quartz Quadrant (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto opens his eyes and looks around, seeing he was in a new place. He looks at the sign next to it. "Quartz Quadrant?"

Quartz Quadrant is an aqua-colored mine bustling with machinery, and is in the process of extracting crystals, most likely quartz, on conveyor belts and platforms for an unknown purpose. Some of the quartz is being transported while some are left lying around. The outdoor area features a swamp where the quartz are being shipped off to whatever distant land they are designated to.

"Let's do it to it!" Naruto exclaimed as he did his Super Peel Out and took off running across this underground Zone.

He immediately saw the Badniks and they were ready to take him out. He grins as he did a Homing Attack on the airborne Badniks before doing a Spin Dash on those that couldn't fly. He grabbed a few Rings that were scattered around before he stopped for a moment to examine the quartz.

"Hmm…" Naruto picked it up and examined it. "Maybe I should grab some. I know Tails would absolutely love to have one of these and make something with it. Now as for me? Well..." He picks them up using his ESP and put them inside his backpack. He turns to the readers and winks. "That's a surprise."

He runs outside the cavern before he saw the Future Time Warp. "Might as well check it out." He runs past it and he vanished.

**Music: Quartz Quadrant (Bad Future) [Sonic CD]**

"Dude…" Naruto deadpanned.

Who could blame him?

Quartz Quadrant's future is just terrible. It's an over-mechanized olive green rusted mine under Dr. Eggman Nega's influence where absolutely all of the quartz has been mined out.

A river of what appears to be lava, which could possibly be melted quartz, runs through the bottom of the zone, and a factory-like dystopia stretches for miles under a fiery sky.

The factories may or may not be attempting to create artificial quartz, but it seems that their operations might have backfired in some way.

"Okay, back to the Past." Naruto runs back as he found the Past Time Warp Plate and runs past it before he vanished.

**Music: Quartz Quadrant (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto went back to the path he was on before he jumps on a platform, grabbing some Rings. He dodged out of the way of a charging Badnik before he destroyed it. He continues on as he attempted to find another Past Plate.

He grins as he managed to find it and he ran faster as he went past it and vanished.

**Music: Quartz Quadrant (Past) [Sonic CD]**

"Wow~" Naruto said in awe as he looks around the Past of Quartz Quadrant.

It is a green, peaceful cavern where a very large quantity of crystals remain in a type of ooze. Outside these caverns, a swamp/bayou is present showing dead driftwood in the waters and forestry at the bottom of the Zone. Conveyor belts are present, but are not being used for any purpose just yet.

"This is nice." Naruto said as he continued to run and look around. He found the Badnik Factory and destroyed it as he runs forward, intent on finding the Projector.

He jumped on a platform before he did a Spin Dash as he destroyed the Projector. He also destroyed the remaining few Badniks that were around. He looks up and saw a Giant Ring.

"Dude, this is just too easy!" He laughed as he jumps inside the Ring.

* * *

**Later**

**Music: Quartz Quadrant (Good Future) [Sonic CD]**

A Giant Ring appears as it brought Naruto out before it vanished. In his hand is a red Time Stone before it vanished.

"YES! A Good Future!" Naruto cheered. "_This_ is way past better!"

In the Good Future, it is an underground, golden-colored utopia that is seemingly hidden from society.

All of the mining has ceased by this point and opulent towers of quartz gleam through the darkness.

Outside of this wonderland of quartz, there are futuristic domes with mountains and forestry beyond them. A wall is seen at the mid-height section of the Zone featuring the same type of domes; it may be there to keep unwanted outsiders away from the underground city.

There are no active mines or swamps here in the Good Future, but more quartz are found here than in any of the time zones.

"Man! Just look at this place! It's incredible!" Naruto exclaimed as he continued to collect the Rings while looking around. He turns serious as he focused forward. "I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to Amy as I keep going on ahead, and to that Fake Naruto that kidnapped her."

With all this Time Travel gimmick on this Planet, Naruto seriously believes that Amy won't have to wait that long for him to come save her, especially since he has to find the Time Stones and fix the damaged Nega has done to Little Planet's Future.

He looks up and saw the Giant Ring appearing in front of him as he jumps in it.

**Music Ends**

The Mysterious Masked Boy had appeared from a dark portal as it vanished behind, he had already saw that he left. "Hmph. Just look at him...the guy seriously thinks he's some sort superhero now like Sonic, Shadow and Silver were. What a kid. I think it's about time I teach him who's the _real_ Ultimate Ninja."

"**So then do it." **

The Masked Boy didn't move as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looks up, seeing it was a red demonic entity as it's eyes glowed red.

"**After all, he is **_**your**_ **nemesis, correct?"** The Entity soon vanished as the Mysterious Boy watched him go.

"Oh, you have no idea." The Boy said as he walked back, a dark portal opening as he entered it.

Even though it wasn't seen, he had a dark smirk on his face.

* * *

**Music: Wacky Workbench (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto is now inside the Wacky Workbench as he bounced up to a higher area, screaming comically in surprise.

"This Zone is insane!"

Wacky Workbench is a weapons warehouse located in a canyon that is ruled by electricity. Inside, there are many abstract mechanisms present, such as hovering platforms, grounded police sirens, a checkered floor, which flickers occasionally, that allows Naruto to bounce to higher areas, and atom-like structures that are constantly generating a wire of electric energy that can harm someone, and Naruto learned that the hard way.

As he began his journey, he was looking for any Past Time Warps. He definitely didn't want to see this Zone's Future so he might as well head to the Past and fix it.

"Aha!" Naruto had a cyan aura around him as he found a Past Time Warp. Once he landed in the area, he does the Super Peel Out and runs past it as he vanished.

**Music: Wacky Workbench (Past) [Sonic CD]**

"WHOA!" Naruto screamed as he fell down and landed on the ground. "Damn. Talk about unexpected." He looks up and his eyes widened in surprise.

Wacky Workbench looks like is still under construction, with its various girders and platforms taking on a bright green color. The red-colored canyons are able to be seen with construction cranes looming below them.

The past is just as wacky as it is in the present timeline, featuring machines that may or may not have been conserved for future use; for instance, the checkered floor remains a prominent part of this level, and the other various devices that are found in the present are still here.

"AHHHH!" Naruto screamed as he bounced off the floor and got to the higher area. He used his ESP to stay afloat as he looks down below. "Now...where are they? Hm?" He noticed a secret entrance.

He flies to the entrance curiously before he landed on the floor and ran inside. He was in a room, with a statue of an Angel on it. He looks at the statue with a raised brow before he touched it his finger.

All of a sudden, the statue's eyes glowed yellow as it began to give Naruto a fountain of Rings, much to his surprise and happiness.

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed as it continued to give him more Rings. Feeling he's had enough, he walks out as he waved at the statue. "Thanks Ms. Angel!" He took off running, not seeing the statue give a smile at his back.

Naruto jumps off a platform as it took him to the lower areas. He saw a bunch of Badniks charging past him before one of them destroyed the platform he was on.

"Hey!"

Naruto watched as they charged at him. He grins as he jumped one of the Badniks' back, hitching a ride, as he waved at the one behind it. He then ripped the buzzsaw off, that was on the Badniks' face as he threw it at the others, destroying them.

He then used his ESP to grab the two that were close to him and smashed them together. He smirks as he saw the flowers grow from the seeds that were inside.

He looks up and saw the Badnik Factory there on the higher level, making him jump as he saw it below him. He does a mid-air Spin Dash and went for it, destroying it, before taking off again. He stepped on the checkered floor, just as it flickered on, and it bounced him higher.

"Oh come-no wait!" Naruto's eyes widen as he saw the Projector. He took out a Kunai and threw it at the Projector, landing a direct it as it got destroyed. "Booyah!" He fell back down before he used his hand to grab onto a platform. He got up and jumped off, going over the checkered floor.

He looks up as he saw the Giant Ring up ahead. "Just two more to go." He jumps inside it.

A few minutes later, he came back.

"Ha! This is great!" Naruto exclaimed as the Time Stones circled around him. He all six, which were yellow, orange, red, green, purple and cyan. The Time Stones soon vanished inside Naruto's body. Just one more! One more Time Stone!

"Now let's check out the Good Future of Wacky Workbench!" Naruto does the Super Peel Out and runs with extreme speed.

He went past a few Badniks, causing them spin comically before they got destroyed. He went past the Future sign and vanished.

**Music: Wacky Workbench (Good Future) [Sonic CD]**

Naruto continues to run at high speed as he looks around. "Another Good Future! This is definitely an S-Rank!"

Wacky Workbench now became an advanced pink/purple workbench with many of its hazardous functions and weapons replaced by what appears to be advanced, safer and more efficient technology. It is littered with many odd features that are colorful and childish, such as geometric shapes and an almost circus-like aesthetic. The workbench may have been remodeled to be a toy land of some sorts, as it bears many objects and machinery that would attract children of small age if not otherwise. The atom-like obstacles do not function at all in this timeline. The checkered floor flickers constantly.

"Heh!" Naruto chuckled as he imagined the looks on Tails and Konohamaru's faces if they were here. He jumps over a platform and did a Spin Dash before he got out of it. "I already know Tails and Konohamaru are gonna have blast in this Zone if they were here."

The Ultimate Ninja looks around, noticing the lack of a Giant Ring."No sign of a Giant Ring. Oh well maybe I'll try the next...Zone? Hey, who turned out the lights?" He asked as he noticed how it got dark.

**Music Ends**

He also noticed that there were bright lights around, making him stop running and cover his eyes. "HEY! TURN IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT WILL YOU, YA KNOW!?" He opens his eyes and they widened in comical awe. "Whoa…"

**Music: Stardust Speedway (Present) [Sonic CD]**

Stardust Speedway; a highway adorned with musical instruments above an enormous city; like its namesake implies, the city glows with many lights.

"This place looks like it's _built_ for speed! I'm gonna have a lot of fun here!" Naruto exclaimed as he walked forward. He stops however as his eyes narrowed. "This feeling…" He could sense it. Amy was here. Along with Nega and that Fake Naruto. He grins. "Time to get this party started!"

He dashed forward jumping over a large gap before he felt something push him faster as he went through a loop and sparks were coming out of his shoes, making him excited.

"YAHOO!" He went past the Past sign before he instantly vanished.

**Music: Stardust Speedway (Past) [Sonic CD]**

"HAHAHAHA! I LOVE THIS PLACE!" Naruto shouted as he did a Spin Dash down to the lower level. He got out it as he made and began to look around. "This must be the Past."

The background takes the form of a Roman/Greek-style city, complete with an acropolis and surrounding towns. The night sky is not as bright as it is in the Present due to the lack of technology, but some stars can still be seen. The Zone is mainly entangled by vines as well.

"Now to find that Factory and Projector!" Naruto runs up and went through a loop as he began to get more and speed. His eyes narrowed as he saw a machine in the center between two platforms.

"Found ya! **Chaos Spear**!" Naruto threw the attack at the Factory, destroying it. "Oh yeah, who's bad? This guy, ya know!" He does a Spin Dash as he saw Badniks charging at him, instantly destroying them.

He soon found himself going through a bunch of loops that were going up, down, sideways, roundabouts as he managed to get out.

Naruto stopped running as he had comically swirly eyes. "What a wild ride." He shook his head. "Kinda cool to be honest." Once he opened his eyes he saw the Projector in front of him. He walks up to it, looking at it before he kicked it, damaging it.

"Those things are seriously annoying." Naruto stated as he ran forward once more, getting sparks to come out of his shoes. He jumped on a yellow Spring as it bounced him higher before he landed inside a machine which had red Spring, making him go into his Spin Attack.

As the machine began to spin around, Naruto launched himself up in the air, destroying a few Badniks that were in the air while dodging a bunch of spiky balls. As he landed and took off running his eyes widened in excitement.

"Yes! The last Giant Ring!" Naruto enters the Ring as it vanished.

**Music: Stardust Speedway (Good Future) [Sonic CD]**

A few minutes later, Naruto appears, in his hands a cyan Time Stone. He raised it up in the air. "YES! I got'em! I got all the Time Stones!"

AWESOME!

He's got all seven Time Stones! Not only did he prevent Eggman Nega from getting them, now he'll use them to travel to the past and save his parents! Not only that but he can also find out whatever or whoever it was that kidnapped Blaze!

"So then…" Naruto looked down, a frown on his face. "Why does it feel like I shouldn't do that?"

For some reason during his adventure, he had this feeling in the back of his head that told him to not use the Time Stones for something selfish like that. He doesn't know why but it's what that feeling was telling him.

Naruto looks at his reflection in the Time Stone and saw Sonic, Shadow and Silver all having the same frown expressions on their faces as him. He blinks then shake his head and look back at the Time Stone, seeing his reflection again.

"...guys…" Naruto whispered before he shook his head again. Now's not the time for this! He still have to rescue Amy and stop Nega!

He looks around the Good Future of Stardust Speedway.

The Good Future looks like a giant futuristic amusement park, with bright pink and green colors dominating the landscape. It looks upon a vast bay with bright cities in the distance, and a beautiful cathedral.

"Okay, time for the showdown!" Naruto exclaimed as he took off running.

He runs through multiple loops as he went up and down and only gained more and more speed. He jumps on a yellow Spring as it bounced him in the air, helping him reach the higher area, as he landed and took off again.

He looks up and skids to a stop as he saw Nega, in his Egg Mobile, and the Fake Naruto, waiting for him.

"Ah! Naruto!" Eggman Nega smirked. "It's about _time_ you showed up."

Naruto rolled his eyes comically at the terrible pun. Because of the Time Stones. Funny. He turns serious as he glared at Nega.

"Where is Amy?" He then glares angrily at his robotic duplicate. "And what the hell is that suppose to be?"

"Your little girlfriend?" Nega moved to the side to reveal a race track. "Aaaaaall the way at the end of this little race course! She's all yours-_if_ you can get to her first!" Nega smirked. "Otherwise, the blast doors at the end will seal her with **Metal Naruto**!"

Naruto raised a brow as he walks up to his duplicate. He looks him up and down. "Metal Naruto?" He smirks. "So I got the name right after all. If you hadn't made this guy kidnap civilians, he would've made a great sparring partner for me. And all I gotta do is _race_ him?"

"Yes." Nega pointed at the laser cannon below his Egg Mobile. "If you far too behind and I'll be sending Amy home with an urn of your ashes! Heh heh heh!"

"Oh really?" Naruto raised a brow in amusement. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well in that case...GO!" He does the Super Peel Out and got a head start on the race track.

**Music: Stardust Speedway (Bad Future) [Sonic CD]**

Nega's eyes widened comically while Metal Naruto instantly took off after him. "Wha-buh-WAIT! THAT'S CHEATING!" He exclaimed as he fired the laser and chased after them.

Naruto jumps up avoiding Metal Naruto as he got in front of him. He looks back, glaring at Nega in comical annoyance, as he pointed at him.

"You've got no room to talk about cheating you kidnapping creep!" Naruto looks forward, glaring at Metal Naruto as the two went through a loop.

Metal Naruto soon had a yellow electrified shield covering his being as he destroyed the spikes that were in front of him, making Naruto cover his eyes, to keep them from his face and stabbing his eyes out. Naruto grins as his feet turns into the figure 8 as went past Metal and got in front of him.

He ran backwards and wagged his finger before winking at him as he turns back around and the two ran into a tunnel. But Metal Naruto used his rocket boost to get faster as Naruto quickly jumped out of the way in surprise and Metal got in front of him again.

"Fast Badnik isn't he?" Naruto asked himself.

The two were now out of the tunnel and went through a loop. The track went spiral as Metal Naruto went through it first with Naruto following close behind him. When they made it out, Naruto jumps on Metal's head, getting his attention, as he jumps on a platform, gaining a head start in the lead and used the Super Peel Out to go faster with Metal trying to catch up.

Naruto went to the entrance as the door closed behind him, destroying Metal Naruto as he went face first into it.

**Music Ends**

"Heh! Next time, try and have Metal Naruto _fight_ me." Naruto grins as he turns around to the entrance and ran in. He saw Amy wrapped up in a metal claw. "Amy!"

"Naruto! You came to rescue me!" Amy said happily.

"Of course I did." Naruto grins as he did a Spin Attack and released Amy before catching her in his arms. "Who do ya think I am?" He looks sheepish as he put her down and began to scratch his head. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting for long."

Amy giggled as hearts appeared around her. "Not at all!"

"Yes!" Naruto cheered as he raised both fists in the air. "Thank you Time Travel!"

"What?" Amy tilt her head to the side in confusion.

"Ah, nothing." Naruto said.

"This doesn't mean nothing brat!" Nega exclaimed, making Naruto and Amy look up at him. "Time will be on my side once my UFOs get back and then you'll be history!" He flew off in the distance.

"UFOs…? Hold up those UFOs in the Special Zone were his?!" Naruto asked in complete surprise before he blinks. "Wait, why am I even surprised?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"There are things here called Time Stones that let you travel through time." Naruto answered. "I ran into some Signposts, the Time Warp Plates, that run on their power. Eggman has been using said Time Warp Plates to invade the Past and cause a Bad Future." Here he smirks. "But…"

"Buuut~" Amy edged him, a smile beginning to form.

"Eggman doesn't even know that I'm always a step ahead of him." Naruto grinned as the Time Stones appeared around, drawing "Oohs" from Amy. "Since I got all of the Time Stones, I can now Time Travel and automatically fix whatever he did to the Past! So!"

"So~?!" Amy asked in excitement.

"You said you'd follow me anywhere." Naruto grins and winks at her. "Does that include 'anywhen', too?"

"Of course!" Amy squeaked as Naruto picked her up and took off running.

"Then hang on tight Amy! We botta kick some Egg Head's butt!"

"Yay!" Amy cheered.

They exited the Stardust Speedway and entered a whole new Zone.

**Music: Metallic Madness (Good Future) [Sonic CD]**

"WAH!" Amy screamed as she held onto Naruto tightly, making a blush appear on his face as he felt her growing chest rubbing his.

"_Stay cool. Stay cool."_ Naruto thought before he realized something. "_Wait a minute...where are we now?" _He looks around, seeing they were in a land filled with technology.

The complex is in brighter light, with the metal walls and floors looking sleek and clean and with a bright blue hue. Mechanical plants and fountains adorn specific areas.

Miles of forestry have sprung up all around it, as if nature is successfully reclaiming this particular area from its earlier metallic rule, and mechanized, palace-like structures sit in the far distance.

The place looks almost like a sprightly, futuristic shopping mall where animals dance freely and victoriously amidst the corridors. Despite the lighter feel, though, many dangerous traps are still present.

...Wait what?

"Traps!?" Naruto quickly jumps in the air as he dodged a roll of spikes from the floor. His feet touched the ceiling as Amy continued to hold on to him. He jumps down and landed on the floor as he continued.

"It looks like we were in the Good Future of whatever this Zone is." Naruto told Amy. "I guess the Time Stones can automatically fix whatever damages has been done to the Past. Ha! How way past cool is that?!"

"Very past cool!" Amy replied.

Naruto jumps on a wall and began to use his chakra to run up it. He had to jump out of the way however, as a hole opened up and water came bursting out. He jumps to the other wall before he jumps off that one doing a flip in the air as he landed and continued ahead.

"Naruto look!" Amy pointed to where she was looking, making him look at the direction.

His eyes narrowed as he saw it was Nega.

"NEGA!" Naruto shouted, getting his attention.

"What!? You two again?!" Nega asked in anger as he looked around. "Where on earth are those blasted UFOs with my Time Stones?! They should've been here by now!"

"Maybe cause I…" Naruto smirked. "Destroyed them and got all of the Time Stones?"

"..." Nega mechanically turned to look at Naruto, a blank look on his face. His face soon turned into an angry snarl as steam came out of his ears. "LITTLE BRAT! GIVE ME THOSE STONES!"

"Nah, forget that man, you're the bad guy!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped up and kicked Nega away, making his Egg Mobile roll into a room as he screamed.

Naruto stopped running and put Amy down. "Sorry Amy, but this is the part where you get outta here." He put his finger into a cross. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

**POOF!**

"GAH!" Amy screamed as another Naruto appeared behind her and picked her up. She stared at that Naruto before looking back at the real one, a question mark appearing on her head.

"Get her out of here!" Naruto ordered his clone as he nodded and turned to leave while he went inside.

"Wait! Naruto!" Amy screamed.

As Naruto enters the room he kicked Eggman into. The door behind him closed as the room darkened.

"What the…" He saw something glowing yellow in the air as it moved around before stopping above him. "What's that?" His eyes widened as he saw it was a Badnik and it fired yellow laser at him, making him run back. He glares comically at it. "HEY!"

Three more of those same Badniks appeared and they each began to fire lasers at him, making Naruto run around dodging them before he did a backflip as one fired in front of him. He jumps in the air, getting above them and does a Spin Attack, destroying all four.

The lights turned on and the doors opened up.

"What a stupid trap." Naruto commented as he ran forth to confront Eggman Nega.

When he enters the final arena, Nega appeared inside a machine, a mechanism which contains four, rotating multi purpose blades.

**Music: Boss [Sonic CD]**

"_Time_ for you to die boy!" Nega told him.

"Dude, enough with the stupid time puns!" Naruto was about to charge at him but stopped as the blades around his machine began rotating in a fast pace.

Naruto quickly dodged out of the way as the machine began to close in on him. But once it hit the floor it stopped. Naruto took that chance and attacked it, making it lose a blade.

The machine hovered back in the air as the blades began to spin again. Nega then charged at him again before he could-

**Music Ends**

"**Chaos Beam."**

A pitch black energy blast came out of nowhere and completely destroyed Nega's machine as it got sent flying into the air, while the blades went flying into multiple directions.

Naruto watched as he heard Nega's scream slowly vanish and he disappeared in a twinkle, meaning he got off the planet. He had a surprised look on his face. "What the hell? That was a Chaos Power! Where did that come from?"

"Me."

Naruto quickly turns around and his eyes widened as he saw it was the Masked Boy from before. "You...you're the guy that tried to attack me!" He charges at him but the Masked Boy moved to the side.

Naruto blinks in confusion. "Huh?" He turns to the Masked Boy before he charged at him again, this time using his Spin Dash.

The Masked Boy however kicked Naruto in the air, making him gasp in pain, before he appeared and kicked him back to the ground, making a crater underneath him.

"Damn!" Naruto dodged out of the way when the Masked Boy began to fire energy blasts at him. He soon ran away as the Masked Boy continued to fire at him.

"**Chaos Spear!"** Naruto fired his attack only for a purple energy shield to appear around him, making his eyes widen in shock. "Whoa."

"Hmph. Is that all you got?" The Masked Boy asked as he floated back down.

"Not even close! **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" Four other Narutos appeared and they all charged at him.

The Masked Boy tilt his head to dodge an incoming punch from one of the clone before he flipped him over his shoulder. He blocked both a kick and punch from both clones before he did a spinning kicked, knocking them away.

Naruto appears behind him, his fist filled with Chaos Energy. "**Chaos Slam!" **He landed a devastating punch that made a shockwave appear and blow everything away.

Naruto's eyes slowly widened as he realized the Masked Boy grabbed his fist. And he didn't even _turn_ to block it. The Masked Boy brought his fist to his face as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, signaling it was a clone.

"**Chaos Smash!"** Three Narutos appeared around the Masked Boy in a circle and they had purple energy covering their fists.

The Masked Boy quickly jumped out of the way of the attack before he saw a fist coming from his left. The punch made contact with his face as the Masked Boy got sent flying to the ground.

"Hah! That was for the kick!" Naruto smirked. "Now, who are you?" He walks up to the boy and touched his masked.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Masked Boy suddenly laughed, making Naruto jump back and get into a stance. He stood up and wiped the dust of his suit. He turns to Naruto. "Not bad kid. Not bad at all. However…"

Naruto gasped in pain as he felt a fist hitting his stomach and he got sent back. He fell on a knee and coughed out blood. He glares up at the Masked Boy as he walked towards him.

"I just happen to be a _little_ stronger than you." The Masked Boy said. He bent down to get to Naruto's eye level. "I should just beat you down right here, but not yet. I'm gonna wait till the right timing, then our real fight begins."

"Who...who are you?" Naruto asked.

"All in due time Naruto." The Masked Boy said as he slapped Naruto's cheek. "All in due time." He stood up and turns to walk away as a dark portal appeared. "I do hope, that the next time we meet, you've gotten stronger, Mr. 'Ultimate Ninja'."

Naruto grit his teeth at the mocking tone as he charged at him but he already left. He looks around, eyes widened. He then clenched his fist. That guy is strong. Way strong. He was even able to keep up with him.

"Who is that? How does he know my name?"

"Naruto!"

Naruto's eyes widened comically as he felt a certain pink haired girl grab his arm. He turns to look at her in shock. "AMY?! Why are you still here!?"

"Your clone disappeared after it got attacked by a buzzsaw." Amy replied, earning a sweat drop from Naruto. "I had to come back to make sure you're okay and you are!"

**Special Ending: Cosmic Eternity-Believe in yourself**

***Instruments***

Naruto and Amy's eyes widened as they felt the building starting to shake and explosions were heard.

"Hang on Amy, we're out of here!" Naruto picked Amy up bridal style and runs out the of the Zone.

As he did, he had to jump away multiple times as the floors began to crumble and he had to dodge falling dupris. Amy, meanwhile, covered her eyes.

Naruto soon jumps all the way up and got off Little Planet. Once he landed on the ground, Naruto puts Amy down and took off running, just as she uncovered her eyes and saw the cloud of dust.

**Waah! Teleportation! Yeah! Waah! Za-ba-doo-bap-bap!  
Waah! Teleportation! Yeah! Waah! Shibby-doo-boo! Yeah!**

The giant chain that connected Little Planet to the mountain began to explode as the mountain got destroyed.

Naruto arrived just in time to see the destruction of the mountain before he turns to Little Planet, seeing the Planet's mechanized look change and turn into a peaceful looking place.

**In the end, who's on your side?  
Who can you trust, in the middle of the night?  
Where will you be, if you can't find you?  
There's no place to go, nothing to do  
If you gotta do something, gotta do something  
Believe in yourself - yourself - yourself - hey**

Naruto stares at it, before he gasped when he saw the Time Stones left his person, making him reach out to them. However, he stopped himself and shook his head. With a small smile on his face, he watched as they went back to Little Planet and he saw stars raining down on him, making him gape in awe.

Little Planet began to shake before yellow stars appeared and it took the form of Naruto's face in front of Little Planet, making an excited Naruto stare at it dumbfounded.

**Extraordinary things can happen if you believe in yourself  
You've got to have some faith in yourself  
If you want respect from your friends  
Don't re-arrange, no need to change  
Stay like you are, keep it all the same  
But as you move along in your life  
Keep an open mind and don't forget  
That if ya gotta do something, gotta do something  
Believe in yourself - yourself - yourself - hey**

The face gave a grin before it vanished and Little Planet started to fly up in the sky. The Planet vanished, leaving behind sparkling rainbow-like trail in it's wake.

Naruto still had that dumbfounded expression before it turned into awestruck once more and an excited smile appeared on his face. He looks down and saw the ground begin to gain green grass and flowers that look similar to the ones seen from Little Planet. He grins happily at that before he felt Amy hug him, making him smile at her as he hugged her back and spun around happily, earning a cheer from her.

**Extraordinary things can happen if you believe in yourself  
You've got to have some faith in yourself  
If you want respect from your friends  
When you feel tight, look at yourself!  
Inside your heart you will find a special place to unwind  
When you feel right, look at yourself  
Inside your mind you will see  
Cosmic Eternity**

Dr. Eggman Nega is flying across the sea inside his damaged Egg Mobile, looking comically defeated. He punched in a few buttons and a screen popped up, revealing the Death Egg has crash landed on a Mysterious Island.

His eyes widened as he detected an extremely powerful energy source on said Island, making him grin. He looks ahead and he could see _both_ the Death Egg and the Island, in the distance making him laugh out loud.

**When you feel tight, look at yourself!  
Inside your heart you will find a special place to unwind  
When you feel right, look at yourself  
Inside your mind you will see  
Cosmic Eternity**

Time has passed since them.

Naruto is on the beach relaxing when he saw a mysterious Ring wash up on shore. He picks it and examined it, making his eyes widen, before he ran to go find Tails with a mysterious Ring.

The two met up with Tails telling Naruto something as he pointed out at sea, making Naruto nod as he showed him the Ring.

The two nodded and ran off to the Tornado, while grabbing the Chaos Emeralds, and were flying in the sky.

Naruto crossed his arms grinned as he and Tails began to get ready for a brand adventure.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**With Blaze**

Blaze sighed happily to herself. The reason? Because she finally made it to the Land of Fire, one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. It took her days to travel from home to across the sea, plus they had to stop to certain places to stock up on supplies and drop some people off, but at least she finally made it.

Once they were close enough, the ship got parked near the docks and everyone got out, including the crew as they had to get more supplies.

Blaze looked at the forest ahead of her. Yes. Yes! She was finally here in the Land of Fire. She was almost close to the Hidden Leaf Village. Close to Naruto!

"Well little Missy. Here we are in the Land of Fire." The Captain spoke from behind her making her turn to him. "But let me tell ya, it'll take a weeks for you to head to the Hidden Leaf Village. You sure you'll be alright?"

"Do not worry Captain. I will be fine." Blaze smiled as she bowed to him, much to his surprise. "I would like to thank you for helping me come this far."

"Aw, don't worry about it Kid." The Captain laughed. "Traveling and helping people is what I do! You have a safe trip now, ya hear?"

"Yes. Thank you again Captain. I hope we meet again in the future." Blaze turns around, putting her cloak on and instantly ran at high speed into the forest.

Honestly speaking, she was gonna miss everyone she traveled with. They all had such a fun time together, even though they barely knew each other. But right now she has a mission. And that mission is to find her best.

* * *

**Mysterious Island**

A boy, 14 years of age, is seen walking across the jungle. He has red dreadlock spiky hair and purple eyes. All he wore was simple green pants and red, green, and yellow shoes, with lego plates on top of them. He was shirtless, revealing his toned body, despite being in his teens, and had a white crescent moon shaped birthmark on his chest.

The most bizarre thing about the boy is that he has two spikes on his fists, which were wrapped in white sports tape.

"_It's been days since that giant dragon egg came on the Island and the Master Emerald Altar has been destroyed. I still haven't found a clue on the Chaos Emeralds whereabouts. What happened to them?" _

The Boy heard movement in the bushes, making him get into a stance. "Come out, now! I know you're there!"

Out of the bushes came a man with the body of an egg.

"Who are you?" The Boy demanded. "What are you doing on my Island?"

"My name is Dr. Eggman Nega." The man introduced himself. "I came here conducting research on the Death Egg that crashed landed here...and to warn you about two people who will be coming to steal the Master Emerald from you."

"What?!" The Boy asked with a shocked look before he growled in anger. "Who are they?"

Nega grinned. "Their names...are Naruto Uzumaki and Miles 'Tails' Prowers."

* * *

Naruto and Tails both sneezed at the same time as they rubbed their noses. They looked at each other in confusion before shrugging their shoulders.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well that's the end of the Sonic CD chapter. In case you guys don't know it was partly based on the last Archie Sonic comic before it cancelled. In the comic Amy showed her Tarot cards to Sonic, and they had the image of Solaris, Chip/Light Gaia and Perfect Chaos.

Now just to give everyone a heads up, the tarot cards in this chapter are hints of what's to come for future arcs to this story so look forward to them as Naruto fights these creatures/villains along with the Masked Boy and the 'dark deity' that Naruto will face _after_ the three year time skip and either during or after the battle with Kaguya.

Now there will be arch-enemies/rivals that certain characters, like Blaze and Tails, will have to face by themselves to bring in more character development for them as they grow stronger and stronger. Before you ask, yes, they can be OCs that you guys own and want added to the fic.

As for the Masked Boy, he will be the central antagonist in the overall story. Not hating on Kaguya, since she _is_ the source of all conflict in both the NARUTO manga and anime, so she will be in the fic and fought, however it will be much different than in the manga and anime since this fic _is_ different from the Prime (manga/anime) Naruto universe. And again before you ask, yes, Sasuke will also be fought as well as of course it's been fated.

Now between Naruto and Masked Boy, there _will_ be an all out, no holds barred, death battle between the two in the final chapter of the Ultimate Series, probably in the sequel, so look forward to that.

Anyway that's it! Just two more chapters till this arc is finished and we go into the Chunin Exam Arc. There will also be a mini filler arc based on the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog during the one month break of the Chunin Exam.


	9. Ultimate 9

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1 [V2]: Sonic Drive [English]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera before it changed to show Naruto running with a serious frown on his face.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures appears: One is Naruto giving a thumbs up and grin. The second is Tails, both his human and fox forms together, doing a pose and smiling at the readers. The third is Amy doing a pose, with her hands behind her back, smiling cutely. The fourth is Knuckles grinning and posing. The last pic is Blaze, her arms crossed and back turned to the viewers, looking over her shoulder.

The scene changes to show a falling Chaos Emerald.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appears: One is Dr. Eggman Nega grinning evilly at the viewers. The second are various Badniks appearing comically. The third is Robo Naruto in a pose. The fourth is Metal Naruto in a pose based on Metal Sonic's artwork from Sonic Channel. The last pic is the Masked Boy in a stance of sorts.

The scene changes again to the Leaf Village, more specifically the Hokage Mountain.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The camera zooms in on the mountain before it goes up to the clear blue sky to reveal the title:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

***Instruments***

Naruto was falling down to South Island before he used his Telekinesis to land down as he looks around in shock and disbelief.

He then notices a bunch of Badniks kidnapping Animals, making him frown seriously before he begins to destroy them and then runs ahead.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today**

**The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is running across the Zones of South Island before he stopped and was face to face with Eggman Nega, who was fuming at the sight of him. Naruto smirks and does a Spin Dash and charged at him.

Later, Naruto has the six Chaos Emeralds as they vanished and large flowers appeared on South Island. He grins as he turns to the Tornado.

**If I don't keep running**

**There's no other meaning**

The scene changes to show Naruto landing the Tornado on West Side Island as Tails comes flying towards him but he sneezes as he changed between his fox form and human form before taking on his fox form.

An explosion is heard, making Tails jump up as they turned and saw Eggman Nega laughing evilly before he flies away.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins at Tails as he gave him thumbs up, making him nod happily and the two raced forward across the Zones.

**Biorhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

The scene changes to show Naruto inside the Death Egg as he battled against Robo Naruto before destroying him. The Death Egg shook and Naruto heard something behind him. He looks bafk him and saw the Death Egg Robot getting ready to stomp him.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

Naruto grins as the Chaos Emeralds appeared around him before he absorbed them and transformed into Super Naruto.

He grins up at the Death Egg Robot before he charged at him and out of the Death Egg as it exploded. He winks and gives a thumbs up to the viewers.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack**

**Surpass everything altogether**

**I won't let anyone**

**Or anything get ahead of me**

The scene change to show Naruto running across a green field. Something caught his attention as he stops and looks up, seeing a planet chained to a mountain. He runs up to the mountain till he was at the top.

He Spin Dash down the mountain before he jumped off the ramp and landed on the chain as he ran on it, heading towards the planet.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!**

**Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!**

**"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar**

**That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

Blaze is riding on a boat, looking at the horizon with a soft smile present on her face.

At the Stardust Speedway Zone on Little Planet, the Masked Boy watches on as Naruto and Metal Naruto were racing on a track. Amy Rose is seen crying for head at the end of the track, while Eggman Nega chases after them with a laser beam on his Egg Mobile.

Naruto soon got in front of Metal Naruto as he reached his hand out to Amy.

**Throw boredom away**

**And start running**

The Death Egg is seen falling from the sky and landing on Angel Island, causing it to fall the ocean.

The Guardian of the Island, Knuckles, see's it falling. He runs over to where the Death Egg landed to investigate.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Amy hugging a blushing Naruto happily. The second is Naruto and Tails are flying to Angel Island. The third is Naruto fighting against Knuckles. The fourth is Blaze running across the jungle. The last pic is the Masked Boy leaning on the Altar of the Emeralds.

The scene changes to show the Master Emerald, with the Chaos Emeralds surrounding it. The Chaos Emeralds then transform into Super Emeralds.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is Dr. Nega taking the Master Emerald from its shrine, with Knuckles grabbing onto his Egg Mobile while Naruto and Tails chase after them. The second pic is Naruto and Tails running through the Sky Sanctuary, seeing the Death Egg rising in the background. The third pic is Naruto up in space as he looks back at a giant mech with the Master Emerald inside it, a comical shocked look on his face. The last pic is the mural from the Hidden Palace Zone.

The scene changes to show Naruto giving a mighty roar as his body started to glow in a rainbow color.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

A silhouette of Naruto's new transformation is seen, with his back turned to the readers, a rainbow aura covering his being. The camera zooms in on his back as he looks over his shoulder, showing his now purple eye.

* * *

**Ultimate 9: Naruto Uzumaki 3! The Island in the Sky!**

**Cover Image: **Naruto stood in front of the burning Angel Island Zone, holding three fingers up as he grins to the readers. In the background, Tails, in his human form, was following him, smiling happily. Dr. Eggman Nega is the burning the jungle. Knuckles is hiding in the bushes looking at the readers. (Based on NA Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Boxart)

* * *

**Music: Angel Island Zone (Act 1) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"Hey Tails! I think I see the Island!" Naruto exclaimed from on the Tornado's Wings.

Four days passed since the fight on the Death Egg, two days passed since the adventure on Little Planet and right now the Dynamic Duo were on their to the Floating Island in the sky.

When Naruto came back from his adventures on Little Planet, Tails has been working on an invention called the Jewel Radar at a workshop the two founded on the Island and fixed it up.

Once he finished it, it immediately picked up a Chaos Energy signature coming from the across the shores.

Thinking it might had something to do with the tidal waves from days before, Tails went to find Naruto to tell him.

At the same as Tails left to go get him, Naruto took a break from training while at the beach. As he sat down on the sand, enjoying the breeze and hearing the ocean, he saw a strange ring washed up on shore.

Running over to it, Naruto picked up the ring, noticing the characters of an ancient language carved onto its surface, much to his confusion. After seeing that language, Naruto was reminded of a legend that he had heard from Amy, after she literally dragged him to her home after the Little Planet adventure.

This legend was about an ancient civilization that lived upon an island. Creating a society of peace and harmony, the people who lived within attributed their great prosperity to the "Stone of Power", a sacred gem whose energy guided them.

One day, as these stories often go, a sect of wise men decided that they wanted to take the power of the stone for their own selfish gain, and tried to seize the energy. Unable to control it, their foolishness caused the great civilization to disappear in the blink of an eye, their way of life forgotten with time. In its wake, the gods took the land, rebuilt it, and sent it, along with the "Stone of Power" into the sky...

Naruto, knowing that this Stone of Power might've been some sort of Chaos Emerald, quickly ran to Tails and told him about the situation while the Fox Genius told him about the Chaos Energy signature he got from his radar.

So the two of them set off on the Tornado and followed the signature to where the Jewel Radar was taking them.

"My Jewel Radar is saying we're getting closer. It must be the Island where the Chaos Energy is coming from!" Tails said happily making Naruto smirk.

His smirk vanished as he saw something huge and metallic on the side of the Island. He squinted his eyes to see what it was before his eyes widen.

"Oh no…"

"What's wrong Naruto?" Tails asked.

"It's the Death Egg!" Naruto answered, making Tails' eyes widen from behind his goggles. Seeing how they were getting closer to the Island, Naruto grins. "I'll meet you up ahead Tails!"

Naruto jumps off the Tornado and fell backwards. However the Chaos Emeralds appeared and entered his body. He then transformed into Super Naruto and flew past the Tornado.

**Music: Knuckles' Theme [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

As he traveled across the shoreline, he made it to the beach. Once he entered the jungle, a lone knuckle fist came out from underground, knocking Super Naruto back comically as the Chaos Emeralds fell out of him, reverting him back to normal.

"OW OW OW OW OW OW!" Naruto landed on the ground and rolled all over the place as he held his chin.

A large vein appeared on his head as he stood up, a comical angry look on his face as he glared at the person, seeing it was a redheaded boy around his age.

Seeing the boy made Naruto have a brief flash of a red echidna standing in the spot the boy is and was chuckling at him. He ignored that and continued to glare at him.

"What's the big idea with that cheap shot?!"

The boy laughed at him. "Serves you right you thieving punk!" He quickly grabbed the Chaos Emeralds, laughing once more as he ran off to the jungle and beyond.

"HEY! Give those back!" Naruto yelled. He heard Tails flying down to him, now in his human form, making him look at him. "Did you see that Tails?! Not only did that guy literally punch the Chaos Emeralds out of me, he stole them and ran off! And he called _me_ a thieve!"

"Who was that exactly?" Tails asked.

"I don't know." Naruto shook his head. "But I feel like Nega might have something to do with it. Come on, let's go after him!"

"Right!" Tails nodded.

**Music: Angel Island Zone (Act 1) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

Naruto and Tails took off following the mysterious boy, grabbing a few Rings that were in front of them. They soon found some Badniks in their path.

"It's the Badniks!" Tails exclaimed.

Naruto grit his teeth. "I should've known Nega might've come back here for the Death Egg!" He did a Spin Attack on the Badniks. "It must also mean that he already picked up that signature which brought us here in the first place!"

The two jumped over two spikes. As they did, Naruto's feet had already touched the ground, making it crumble and fall off, taking them along with it.

"WAAAAAHHH!" Naruto and Tails screamed in surprise. Naruto quickly grabbed Tails and flipped in the air before he landed on the ground.

"Thanks Naruto." Tails thanked him.

"No prob little bro." Naruto grinned as he sat him down. He saw a yellow Spring in front of him, making him look back to see a bunch of rocks. He tilt his head to the side curiously before he looked back at the Spring.

"What is it?" Tails asked looking at the rocks curiously as well.

"I wonder…" Naruto whispered as he turned to the rocks. He didn't know why but something was telling him that there was something behind those rocks. "Stand back Tails." He did his Spin Dash technique and charged at the rocks.

Tails' eyes widened in shock as Naruto discovered a secret passageway. "Whoa!"

"Tails! Get in here!"

Tails quickly ran to the passageway and entered. He stopped as his eyes widened as there was a Giant Ring in front of him. Naruto was on the other side of it, staring at it wide eyed.

"Naruto…? You don't think…" Tails trailed off.

"Only one way to find out." Naruto said.

The two entered the Giant Ring as it vanished.

* * *

**Music: Special Stage [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

Naruto and Tails opened their eyes and saw that they were on a gigantic globe. There were red spheres all around them along with blue spheres. There were also white spheres with stars on them.

"So cool~" Tails said in awe.

"Another different Special Zone." Naruto said.

He frowned in confusion wondering what they should do here. He looks around the and noticed the mass of red spheres and only a little of blue spheres. He looks up and saw a monitor which showed the amount of blue spheres that were there, which were 102 and the Ring monitor which were 000. There was also a message underneath it.

GET THE BLUE SPHERES!

"That's it!" He exclaimed, getting Tails' attention. "We gotta collect the blue spheres! Come on!"

"Okay!" Tails nodded.

The two went ahead and grabbed the Blue Spheres, but Naruto quickly noticed how they turn red after they touched them.

"_If I were to guess, the Red Sphere would more than likely kick us out the Zone."_ Naruto thought as he and Tails went around an army of Red Spheres and touched the Blue Spheres. "Gotta be careful not to grab those." He gained a curious look on his face. "_But what does the white ones do?"_

He got his answer when he ran into one and it bounced the Dynamic Duo back, making them stop running for a moment.

"Seriously?" Naruto deadpanned before they continued running and went around them and grabbed the remaining Blue Spheres.

Once they got the last one, all the Spheres on the globe flew off and vanished. Naruto and Tails looked ahead and saw a green Chaos Emerald as they ran to it.

"YES!" They shouted as Naruto grabbed it and they were surrounded in a flash of light.

* * *

**Music: Angel Island Zone (Act 1) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

The two were back in the secret entrance before they ran out. They jumped over a yellow Spring before they ran to a ramp as it flew them across the river below and past the waterfall.

"I still can't believe it!" Naruto exclaimed as he attacked a Rhino Badnik before the two went through a loop and were running up a slope as they made it above the upper level and into another loop. "That guy sent the Chaos Emeralds in the Special Zones! How did he even do that?"

"You think there might be a connection between him and the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked.

"There might be." Naruto admitted. "After all, he knocked the hell out of me when I was Super Naruto and the Chaos Emeralds, which not even Nega was able to do. And I'm willing to bet that guy and that Energy source is connected as well."

Naruto and Tails were now running into a giant circular tree as they were running around it while moving up. They then exited the tree and continued to move forward before they saw something flying down from the sky, making them stop and look up in confusion.

**Music: Sub-Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

It was a dark blue robot armed with a flamethrower and missile launchers.

"What the?" Naruto asked before he and Tails jumped out of the robot it shot fire at them. "Hey!" He heard something and looks up in the sky, seeing that there was more of those robots, much to his surprise. "Sheesh, Nega how many of these-?

"Naruto! Watch out!" Tails exclaimed as he saw the robot launched missiles.

**Music Ends**

The robot soon flew off just as the missiles landed and multiple explosions were heard before a large amount of fire is seen, making Naruto and Tails cover their eyes.

Once they opened their eyes, they went wide with horror while Naruto's eyes also had anger in them as he clenched his fists.

What was once a peaceful looking Zone, now turned into an inferno. Even the calm blue sky was orange.

"Nega…" Naruto growled in anger. That slimy rotten egg! There were Animals here in this Zone and he's burning it to the ground! He looks up and saw one of those robots flying away. There's no way he's gonna let one of those things get away!

"Let's go Tails!"

"Right!" Tails nodded, a serious frown on his face.

**Music: Angel Island Zone (Act 1) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

The two took off running, intent on finding Nega and make him pay. As they did, they quickly Spin Dash to avoid a Spike that came from above and the yellow Springs.

They jumped over a gap, which got destroyed, and landed on another one, as it crumbled, before continuing on. They went through a loop and reached a dead end before they found saw a hidden red Spring. They jumped on it as they landed on a big rock.

They looked up, seeing there were two platforms. They jumped up on one before they jumped to the next and continued on running. They stopped as they saw the robot again in front of them.

"It looks like it's been waiting for us." Tails said as Naruto grinned.

"Then let's not keep it waiting! Get it!"

**Music: Sub-Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

Naruto and Tails did their Spin Attack on the robot before moving out of the way as it launched flames at them. It soon starts to spin around really fast, turning into spinning fireball as it charged at them.

"WAH!" Tails screamed as he jumped out of the spinning fireball's way and charged at Naruto, who smirks.

"Please! I know girls who's better at doing fire tricks than you!"

Naruto charges at the robot and does his newly developed Insta-Shield technique, damaging the robot and making it stop spinning as though it was dazed.

"Well…" Naruto does a Spin Dash and went through the robot, making a big hole appear right where the flamethrower was at. "One anyway!"

**Music Ends**

The robot soon exploded and its parts flew all over area.

"That's cool Naruto!" Tails exclaimed as he ran up to him. "What was that move you used?"

"Heh! I call it the Insta-Shield! It allows me to gather enough energy to create a shield, though only for a split second." Naruto replied as he rubbed his thumb across his nose. "Believe it or not, the idea just came to me when I was training."

Well it was kind of true. The truth was that he had a vision of Sonic using that technique before and copied it. Now he can come up with his own variation of the attack.

"So cool!" Tails continued in awe.

The two soon heard something loud coming from above them. They looked up and saw what looked like a flying fortress. Even though it was covered by the clouds, the two could still see it's massive shadow.

"W-What was that?" Tails asked a bit fearfully.

"Trouble." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the flying warship as it flew past their sight. "Let's go, it couldn't have gotten far."

"Okay!" Tails nodded as they looked ahead, seeing a bunch of rocks blocking their way.

**Music: Angel Island Zone (Act 2) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

They did the Spin Dash and charged forward, destroying the rocks and entered a winding tunnel. They left the tunnel but still kept going as they went past the grumbling rocks and entered a room that had a Giant Ring appear.

However since Naruto was up front, he entered it first as it vanished, leaving Tails behind as he looked around in confusion.

"Naruto? Where'd you-AHHHH!" A Giant Ring appeared and Naruto came out, a yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand.

"Well that was fun." Naruto said as he turns to Tails. "There you are Tails! Hope you haven't waited long."

"Actually, you only vanished for like a couple of seconds." Tails replied, making Naruto slowly blink as he stared at the Emerald.

"Huh. I guess time really _does_ move differently in the Special Zone." He said before it vanished.

The two left the room and jumped down as they did a Spin Dash. They jumped up and went over a platform that had rotating spikes on it. They jumped over it and continued on ahead as they crossed a bridge, only for it to crumble and fall down in the waters below.

They jumped a platform as it took them to the upper level. They saw a zip line, going down so Tails got on Naruto's back while said Genin himself took the zip line. However the line got caught on fire and it burned making the two fell, with Naruto throwing the zip away.

He then used his ESP to continue on flying to their path. Naruto's ESP died and the two landed on a red tree. Tails jumped off Naruto's back and the two ran off. They destroyed a flower like Badnik and Spin Dashed to downwards to go threw two loops before they jumped off a ramp as it flew them to the other side of the waterfall.

They jumped up between multiple edges, destroying a Rhinobot, before they went back to jump back over the other side. The Duo jumped to the higher level before they jumped to where a half destroyed bridge was waiting for them.

They jumped to the bridge and made it across before it got destroyed and they Spin Dashed through some rocks as they got through a winding tunnel before they got launched out of it.

They landed on the ground and continued to run before they heard something flying above them, making them look up in confusion before their eyes widened comically as a large warship appeared over their heads.

"OH! MY! GOD!" They both cried out as the warship began to drop bombs on them making them scream out comically. "WAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Naruto quickly grabbed Tails' hand began to run faster as explosions were heard behind them. But since this was a very large warship, that was literally above their heads, it dropped many more bombs at them, but amazing enough, Naruto managed to avoid them.

"This is insane, ya know!" Naruto exclaimed comically as he continued to dodge the assault. "Where does someone get the time to make something like this!?"

"I don't know!" Tails cried out as he continued to hold onto Naruto's hand as his legs turned into a Figure 8.

Thankfully, the warship stopped sending bombs at them as it began to fly up to the sky, making them sigh in relief while Naruto kept running.

"That was close." Tails said.

"You said it." Naruto agreed as he let go Tails and the young fox boy began to fly beside him.

They went through a bunch of trees before they heard something. They look to the side Nega riding a vehicle that has two arm cannons.

"Nega." Naruto growled, watching as he vanished behind a waterfall.

The two crossed the bridge and were in front of a waterfall. They looked around for any sign of Nega before he appeared out of the waterfall.

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"SURPRISE!" Nega yelled out as he destroyed the bridge with a fireball before he launched them at the Duo.

"Heads up Tails, here they come!" Naruto told him as he dodged out of the way of a fireball.

"Got it!" Tails flew up in the air, easily avoiding them as the two charged at Nega, but saw he had vanished again. "Huh? Where did-"

"He's hiding in the waterfalls again!" Naruto exclaimed as he saw Nega's shadow behind the waterfall.

"Take this!" Nega quickly came out and launched his fireballs once more as Naruto and Tails charged at him, while avoiding the fireballs. They jumps up and quickly does a mid-air Spin Dash on Nega, pushing his machine back. "Hey! Cut that out! This was a new paint job!"

"Who cares?!" Naruto exclaimed, as he did his famous hand signature. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!" **

**POOF!**

Four Naruto clones appeared behind the original and they, along with Tails charged at Nega who gave a comical scream as he disappeared inside the waterfall.

Nega reappeared again, except this time instead of launching fireballs, he launched flamethrowers at the clones as they vanished in puffs of smoke. Once the flames died down, Naruto and Tails were nowhere to be seen.

"What?! Where did they go?" Nega asked, looking around.

"We're here!"

Nega looked up and his eyes widened comically as he saw a large yellow and orange Spin Attack falling down towards him. The Spin Attack slammed down on Nega, destroying his precious machine. The Duo got out of their new Combo Spin Attack and landed on the ground as Nega's machine exploded behind them.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Nega screamed as he got sent flying in the sky.

"Yeah! We did it!" Naruto and Tails cheered as they gave each other high fives. They ran forward before they stopped on a bridge, seeing it was a dead end.

"So now what?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, look! Up there!" Tails pointed up, making the Genin look up and his eyes widen in comical anger as he saw the same boy from before, standing on a cliff, looking down at them.

**Music: Knuckles' Theme [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"So you finally showed yourself." Naruto said, cracking his neck. "I got a bone to pick with you Chuckles! Why the hell did you attack me?"

"Like you don't already know _why_ I attacked you, you thieves!" The boy growled.

"We _aren't_ thieves!" Naruto growled back, only to be ignored.

"And the name's Knuckles. I'm the Guardian of this Island and the Master Emerald! Remember it!" Knuckles jumped on a switch right in front of him and chuckled as the bridge below Naruto and Tails got destroyed.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" The two screamed as they fell down.

"Heh. Chumps." Knuckles ran off.

* * *

**Music: Hydrocity Zone (Act 1) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

Naruto and Tails were still screaming as they now entered a large blue underground stone built reservoir which was spacious and had deep water. They fell in the deep water before landing on the ground.

"_Oh hell no, not this again!"_ Naruto thought to himself as he was reminded about the Labyrinth Zone. He turns to Tails, seeing him stare at him before he grabbed his hand and began to run forward before seeing there was a dead end.

Naruto groaned in annoyance before he unknowingly stepped on a switch. A hatch door opened up in front of them before it sucked them and the water inside, forcing Naruto to let go of Tails' hand.

They saw a pole in front of them as they quickly grabbed hold of it. But due to the pressure of the water, the pole broke and they were continuing down the path. They grabbed onto another pole before the same thing happened and they continued on the path of wherever the tunnel was taking them.

The wall at the end eventually broke down and a torrent of water came out along with Naruto and Tails as they gasped for breath.

Naruto, seeing that there was more underwater pathways below him, quickly grabbed Tails using his Telekinesis and was floating to the nearest platform, which thankfully was right in front of them.

They landed on the platform, all soaked and wet, as it took them to the upper level, where there was sweet ground.

"I have a feeling we're gonna be doing that a lot here." Naruto quickly spun around, making his entire being dry.

"No kidding." Tails agreed as he shook his fur clean of the water. The two stepped off the platform and Naruto did his hand signature.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!" **3 Naruto appeared as the Original turns to them. "Alright guys! Spread out and search for any Giant Rings in this Zone!"

"Yes sir!" The Clones saluted as they dashed off.

"From now on, the Shadow Clones will grab the emeralds for us." Naruto nods as he turned to Tails.

Thanks to Tails, he learned that since the Shadow Clones are basically apart of him, then that means whatever they learned will be transferred to the original, meaning that if they disappear than he will automatically learn everything. Plus it makes things easier for the two to continue their journey.

"Again Tails, thanks so much about the Shadow Clones. It makes things so much easier " Naruto said, patting Tails on the back.

"Aw, you're welcome Naruto!" Tails giggled.

Naruto puts his arms behind his head and looks around, whistling in amazement. "This place definitely reminds me of the Labyrinth from South Island. Except this seems more...well ancient than the Labyrinth." He frowns. "Now as for Knuckles…"

Tails nods. "He said that he's the guardian of this island and the Master Emerald. I think the Master Emerald is the energy source I've been tracking."

"And since Knuckles is the guardian, Dr. Nega is using him as a means to distract him so that he can locate it." Naruto said. "Let's hurry up and find a way out of here. We got a Knucklehead to find and an evil scientist's butt to kick."

Tails smirks and nodded. The two took off as they started to explore the place, intent on finding their way out of this underground Zone. They traveled through loops and destroyed any Badniks that were in their way.

Eventually they found themselves back underwater as their movements got slower. Thankfully they found a Water Shield and it became easier for them to travel and breath underwater.

"Now where the hell was _this_ thing when I was in the Labyrinth?" Naruto grumbled in annoyance.

"You okay?" Tails asked in a worried tone.

"Yeah. Just irked." Naruto replied, not paying attention that he used a new slang.

The two looked up and saw there was surface. Naruto quickly grabbed Tails using his ESP and the two floated out of the water and up on land, with the Water Shield still around their being.

"These Shields _really_ come in handy." Naruto said. "I wonder if there are any others on this Zone." His eyes widened as he put a hand on his forehead. He shook his head and smiled brightly as he turns to Tails. "Dude, one of the clones got a Chaos Emerald!"

Just as he said that, a bright red glow appeared in Naruto's han, showing a red Chaos Emerald.

"Alright!" Tails cheered.

"Heh! Thank you Shadow Clones!" Naruto said happily as the Emerald vanished in flash. "Well one of you guys at least." He deadpanned as two of the clones lost. He shrugged his shoulders. There's always next time.

The two looked ahead and saw a downward shuttle loop. They both did a Spin Dash and charged forward, destroying the Badnik before going through the loop and went down, also destroying the weak floor.

**Music End**

The Duo were now in U-shaped pit that was nearly filled with water. Thank God they still have the Water Shields on them.

"What the heck?" Naruto asked as he looked around. He face-palmed. "Oh great, we fell into a pit."

"Hey Naruto look." Tails called him, getting his attention.

Naruto tilt his head in confusion. "What's that?"

"It looks like a turbine." Tails said, poking at the contraption.

"A turbine for what?" Naruto asked in confusion. He got his answer when he heard something floating above them.

The two looked up and saw a round-shaped robot with thruster missiles functioning as shield.

**Music: Sub-Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"Oh great. Another one of Nega's toys." Naruto rolled his eyes as he and took fighting stances.

They watched as the thruster spun around the robot before it went up. It then charged down on one side of the arena, making the duo jump out of the way. They turned back to it and saw it charged down again, this time landing a hit on them, making them lose their Water Shields.

"_SHIT!"_ Naruto thought to himself as he and Tails held their breaths. They looked up at the robot, seeing it sit on the turbine. It was at that moment when they realized what the turbine was for. A vein appears on his _head. "I hate Nega so much."_

The robot activated the turbine, making a whirlpool in the water, making the two unable to do anything and only making them lose air faster. Naruto turns to Tails, seeing him trying to tell him something before he did a familiar hand-sign making the Uzumaki grin.

"_**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_ Multiple Naruto appeared as they used one another to jump off each other and out of the water, using chakra to stick to the surface.

Tails got out as well as he and the other Narutos jumped in the air. They all soon did a Spin Charge in mid-air before Spin Dashing at the robot just as it was about to get off the turbine.

"Take this! **Super Spin Dash Barrage**!" Naruto called out as the multiple Spin Dash landed together on the robot, making it have a very large dent.

Ignoring the puffs of smoke from the clones, Naruto and Tails landed back in the water and watched as both the robot and turbine exploded.

Naruto and Tails both did a mini victory dance underwater before they jumped and gave each other high fives.

"_We did it!"_ They thought to themselves before they heard rumbling from below them.

**Music: Hydrocity Zone (Act 2) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

They looked down and were sucked into the floor, taking them deeper into the depths of the Zone. As they reached the bottom floor, there were weak structures blocking their path, so Naruto used the Spin Dash to destroy them with Tails following after him.

However, they noticed the area around them begin to shake as they got out of the passageway. Tails gave a comical shocked expression as he pulled Naruto's jacket, getting his attention.

Tails pointed behind the two, making Naruto look back before he gave a comical scream underwater as he saw the wall began to close in on them. The Ultimate Ninja quickly grabbed Tails and runs forward as a Chaos Emerald appeared in his hand.

"_**Chaos Control!"**_

The two vanished and were back on the surface again, gasping for air and spitting out the water.

"I know I said this before. But I _really_ hate Nega." Naruto repeated as he and Tails shook their bodies dry.

"Well, at least we made it out safe." Tails reassured as he felt his nose tingle. "Achoo!" He turns back into a human.

"Except now, we're much deeper in the Hydrocity Zone." Naruto said as he looked around, seeing many water slides all over the place.

"Whoa…" Tails said in awe. "This place almost looks like an underground water park."

"Something tells me this place _was_ a water park." Naruto said as he and Tails took off, this time taking a shortcut by flying. "It makes me wonder what happened on this Island a long time ago."

"Maybe if we find Knuckles, he might be able to tell us." Tails said.

"Or if he finds us." Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles. "I got a score to settle with that Knucklehead, believe it."

"Right…" Tails sweat dropped as he laughed sheepishly. Of course, Naruto would still be sore about that sneak attack.

"You know…" Naruto spoke. "Those water slides _does_ like a lot of fun...and Hydrocity Zone _is_ the first water park I've been to."

Tails blinks before an excited smile appeared on his face. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Naruto grins as the two landed on a water slide. They saw a waterfall on the side, making them think that's where the fun starts. They did a Spin Dash and went down, the slide making them go faster and faster as they cheered happily.

The slide sent the two to a wall as they began to fall. Tails quickly grabbed on Naruto's back as he moved faster and faster on the water, making it splash everywhere. They made it on the surface, with Naruto skidding to a stop as sparks came out from his shoes.

"AWESOME!" Naruto and Tails cheered.

"We should do that again!" Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah! _After_ we take down Nega of course." Naruto said as he and Tails crossed a bridge. They looked and saw weak blocks up ahead. They both did a Spin Dash and destroyed them before they fell into a pit.

They landed on a bridge only to come into a dead end.

"Well that sucks." Naruto deadpanned.

"So now what?" Tails asked.

"Now you fall!" A familiar voice called out.

"Knuckles?!" Naruto called back. "Where the hell-!?"

The bridge collapsed and the Duo fell down into the deep water once more. But as soon as they touched the floor, large fans came out and they were going through another tunnel.

They got out of the tunnel as the water levels were lowered to their feet.

"...Tails?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna kill Knuckles." Naruto growled as he stood up. "Let's go get that-!"

"HO HO HO HO HO HO!" Tails jumped from the sudden laughter while Naruto had a half-lidded expression.

The Ultimate Ninja groaned and face-palmed in annoyance. "And of course, _he_ would be here."

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

The Duo ran ahead and saw Nega riding in his Egg Mobile, equipped with an orange propeller spinning attachment and depth charge dispenser behind the mobile, that drops small pipe bombs. And judging from the grin on his face, he was waiting on them.

"Welcome Naruto and Tails, I've been waiting for you!"

"Oh?" Naruto raised a brow as a grin formed on his face. "Sorry to keep you waiting, we had to deal with one of your Boss robots again. And you call yourself a man? How do you sleep at night?"

"Like a baby." Nega's voice replied. "Well, an _evil_ genius baby that is. Now time to get rid of you brats!"

The Egg Mobile descend into the water with the propeller spinning which will whip up the water into a vortex. The vortex dragged Naruto and Tails into it as the Egg Mobile began to rise up.

Naruto's eyes widened, seeing they were about to hit the propeller, but then inwardly sighed in relief as he saw the vortex was going down. He stood on top of the vortex and Spin Jump on the Egg Mobile making it shake.

"Ha! How you like that?" Naruto asked. He blinked as he saw those small bombs drop in front of him before they exploded, making him fly back as Rings came out him. "HEY!"

"How do _you_ like that?" Nega laughed but then widened his eyes as he felt his Egg Mobile shake. "What?!" He looks forward and saw Tails blowing raspberry at him. "Why you…!"

The Egg Mobile quickly descended to the water as the propeller began to create the vortex.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto jumped in the air and does a Homing Attack at the back of the Egg Mobile, releasing several bombs in the water as they got sucked into the vortex. He quickly got Tails and jumped away.

"WHAT?! NO WAIT!" Nega tried to move the Egg Mobile out of the way from the bombs, but due to their small size and the speed of the vortex they came faster. "NOOOOOO!"

A large explosion erupted from the small bombs. Naruto and Tails stared in amazement at the display as smoke surrounded the Egg Mobile. The smoke eventually disappeared as it showed the destroyed Egg Mobile and a smoke covered Nega.

Nega glares at the two in annoyance as he coughed out smoke. "You'll pay for-!" He was interrupted as Naruto and Tails did a Spin Dash and launched him away, making him scream.

**Music End**

"Yeah! I already heard that line before!" Naruto called out.

"Hey Naruto look." Tails said, getting his attention. "I see a Capsule!"

"Right." Naruto nodded and jumped on the button as it released the captured Animals.

The ground soon began to shake making the boys stumble for balance.

"Hey! W-What's going on?!" Tails asked.

"I don't know!" Naruto exclaimed.

Cracks were formed below to where they stood, making them look down with comical shocked expressions before they looked at each other with looks that said 'Uh oh'. Water was shot out from the ground, launching the Dynamic Duo in the air as they screamed comically.

* * *

**Music: Marble Garden Zone (Act 1) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"WAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Naruto and Tails screamed as they were now falling down towards hill. The two turned into Spin Balls before they landed on the hill as they down it faster and faster.

They got launched off a slope and going over moving rotating platforms before landing on soft green grass, groaning.

"Boy, I feel dizzy." Tails said as comical swirls were in his eyes. He sneezed and returned to his human form.

Naruto shook his head and rubbed it. "Man, that was crazy." He and Tails sits up and were looking around. They were now in another ancient ruin like place full of marble and steep hills.

"Whoa, what's this place?" Tails asked in awe.

"Looks like those blasts of water sent us in a whole new place." Naruto said with a sweat drop. "Which is really strange for some reason." He stood up and stretched his limbs out with Tails dong the same thing.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Three clones appeared and quickly went their separate ways as they already knew their objective. Once they were gone, Naruto and Tails ran off, intent on exploring the place.

"So Tails, any idea about this place?" Naruto asked.

Tails scratched his head. "Well, from the looks of it, I would say we're in some ancient city."

"Ancient city? This place?" Naruto asked as they slid down a steep hill before sliding down another one. He put his hands behind his head. "Well the last place did have an ancient underground water park, so I can't be surprised."

"Of course! The Island has been around for centuries so who knows what else we might see." Tails said happily as they made it on a ground and continued to run ahead.

"True." Naruto nodded. The two felt a mini earthquake all of a sudden. "Oh come on, again?!"

They looked down and saw a long robot, with two drill engines, come out from underground. The Duo watched as the robot fly up and drilled it's way into the ceiling, making the temple that they were in shake some more.

"That must've been Dr. Nega!" Tails exclaimed.

"Meaning that he's here somewhere." Naruto said. "Along with Knuckles." He groaned as he felt a headache. He smiles happily as he held out two hands. In flashes of lights, both blue and turquoise Chaos Emeralds appeared.

"Alright!" Tails cheered. "We got two Chaos Emeralds! That means we have five of the Emeralds!"

"Which also means that we have two more left to find!" Naruto said in excitement as he danced. "Ha! How you like that Chuckles?"

Naruto and Tails soon ran out of the Temple, avoiding the very large spiky ball that was by the exit, and made it outside. They jumped on moving platforms that seems to be sticking in some oil like substance.

"Whoa! Watch out Naruto! I think that's tar down there!" Tails warned.

"Got it!" Naruto said as the two jumped ahead and were running on the grass again.

They saw some new incoming Badniks that were heading their way, as they destroyed them. Though they had to be careful because these Badniks had spikes covering their whole body.

The Duo eventually made their to a Shuttle Loop that had a pillar at the end, making them spin around it before jumping off it to the right side as they entered a temple.

**Music: Sub-Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

The moment they did however, they felt the temple shake uncontrollably before they saw the Tunnel Bot come out from underground again.

"Quick Tails! Attack it while it's out in the open!" Naruto told the Fox Boy as he nodded.

"Yeah!"

The two did a Spin Jump at Tunnel Bot and attacked it together just as it fly upwards, drilling through the ceiling. The Duo looked up and saw rocks falling from above, along with sharp spiky stalactites, making them move around.

"That's playing dirty!" Tails exclaimed before he squeaked as he jumped forward, dodging the spiky stalactites.

"It's a Badnik Tails!" Naruto held his hand out as he grabbed the spiky stalactites using his ESP and gathering them together to take down the Badnik in one shot. "They always play dirty."

A few seconds later, the temple shook again and the Tunnel Bot came out from the ceiling. And it was aiming towards Naruto with its drills pointing downward.

"WAH!" Naruto screamed as he broke his concentration, dropping the rocks and dodged the incoming Tunnel Bot, forcing it's drill to get stuck on the ground. "Like I said, they always play dirty!"

Tails did a Spin Dash and charged at the Badnik landing a direct hit before Naruto went gathered up the stalactites together once more. He looks and saw it the Tunnel Bot was about to go up.

"Don't think so!" Naruto launched the large stalactite.

The Badnik got struck by the stalactite through its center. But due to its large size, it got stuck in the Badnik and embedded itself into the wall.

**Music Ends**

"Yeah! You did it Naruto!" Tails cheered, high-fiving his best friend.

"_We_ did it Tails!" Naruto corrected him.

The two felt a powerful earthquake shake the temple that they're in. For some reason, they began to feel that the temple started to sink.

As in _literally_ sinking to the ground.

**Music: Marble Garden Zone (Act 2) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"Let's get out of here!" Naruto and Tails said at the same time as they ran forward, before doing a Spin Dash to destroy a breakable wall that helped them get out the temple.

"Heads up Tails." Naruto said, seeing a slope. "There's a steep slope up ahead and there's something else."

Tails looked to where Naruto was looking and saw the 'something else'. "Hey! I think that's a pulley."

"_...What's a pulley doing on this Island?" _Naruto asked himself before he shrugged his shoulders. "Meh, whatever, let's use it to climb up."

The Dynamic Duo grabbed on the pulley as it took them all the way the slope. They looked behind them and saw a platform and another steep slope that has a pulley. They jumped on the platform and grabbed hold of the pulley as it pulled them up.

They jumped on the other side and continued their path dodging a spike. They soon saw a breakable path and did a Spin Dash to destroy it, entering another temple. They stopped as they felt the temple shake of all sudden.

"Oh come on! Now what!?" Naruto asked.

"HO HO HO HO HO HO!"

The ground suddenly burst open and out came Dr. Nega. His Egg Mobile is now connected to a wide flying machine, that has two motors set on both sides and a drill attached to the top.

"Curses! I missed?!" Dr. Nega yelled.

"Eggman!" Naruto and Tails shouted. The two charged at him at the same time before doing a simultaneous Rolling Attack on it, making it shake.

"Why you little!" Dr. Nega flew upwards and out of the small temple.

"Whoa! Let's get out of here!" Naruto quickly grabbed Tails' hand and ran out of the small temple. Once they were out, Naruto released Tails and kicked a grasshopper like Badnik away, instantly destroying it and releasing the Animal.

As they continued, they made it to a blocked road.

"Oh great! Now how are we going to-?"

"Naruto! The ground!"

"Huh?!"

With widened eyes, Naruto looks down and saw the terrain was shifting and it was going down. Naruto suddenly did a Spin Dash with Tails following his lead and the two were sent going down a slope before launching off via a yellow spring. They got into a Spin Ball again as they saw another steep slope.

As they traveled down the slope, they got launched off and landed on floating blue disk. However once they did the blue disk fell to the ground and was traveling along the path, with Naruto and Tails running in place.

"What the heck is up with this thing!?" Naruto asked with a shocked expression.

"I don't know!" Tails replied. "But whatever it is, it's leading us somewhere!"

The blue disk went down a slope and destroyed a blocked entrance before it began to float, with the Duo still running in place.

"Jump!" Naruto said as they jumped off the blue disk.

They looked ahead and saw another entrance to one of the temple, though the entrance had spikes on it and was stomping up and down.

Once it started going up, the Duo charged forward before instantly jumping out of the way of a large spiked ball and destroyed a Mantis Badnik.

"Sheesh! It's like we're traveling deeper and deeper into the ruins and groves of this place." Naruto said as he and Tails jumped on a platform, before jumping again and got out of the temple.

"I know. It's amazing right?" Tails asked, smiling. "It's like we're learning more and more about this Island in the ruins."

"Er, I wouldn't say that Tails." Naruto said. "Sure, I wouldn't mind exploring the place more, it's just with Nega running around causing trouble, I wanna hurry and find him before he could cause anymore serious damage here."

"Yeah. I know what you mean." Tails nodded in understanding.

A half lidded look appeared on Naruto's face. "Then there's that Knucklehead." He said. "We haven't seen him around here so he's gotta be somewhere else."

"Yeah. I just can't believe that we haven't run into people yet." Tails said before he looked down. "Do you think...Knuckles is…"

"..." Naruto didn't answer the unasked question.

It does make since. Like Tails said, they haven't run into any people around just like on the other islands and Knuckles did say he's the guardian of the island. A Floating Island to be exact. An island that hasn't seen civilaztion for who knows how long.

Naruto's been so focused on wanting to pay Knuckles for that earlier attack and for stealing the Chaos Emeralds from him, he never once payed attention to what Knuckles said when he introduced himself to them earlier.

Knuckles lives alone on this island. Meaning that he doesn't have any friends...human friends to be exact. He...probably doesn't even have a family.

Naruto looked down further, a sad look on his face. Oh man. Being the only human here, all alone on an island, guarding some emerald to keep the bad guys from getting it. To be honest, that's both sad and scary. It's no wonder Knuckles listened to Eggman's lies. That fat slime ball is the first person he ever met in...who knows _how_ long.

It also didn't help that Naruto feels like he's known Knuckles for a long time when they only met a few hours ago. Just like what happened with Tails and Amy. He also couldn't help but be very happy! He's never been this happy since the day he met Blaze and became best friends!

Tails, Amy and Knuckles too! Despite not knowing them and not caring anymore, he's happy that he has them back. He has his three best pals back again! He doesn't realize it, but it made him smile so much that it appeared on his face.

"_Alright Knuckles! Once I knock some sense into that thick head of yours, we are gonna be great friends. Then I'm gonna prank you for that stunt you pulled!"_ A devious grin appears on his face as he thought that, many ideas forming in his head.

"N-Naruto?" Tails asked, seeing the look on his best friend's face, which made him sweat drop. He heard something and he looks up, before his eyes widened. "Naruto! It's Dr. Nega!"

Naruto blinks and shakes his head. He looked up and saw Dr. Nega slowly descending to the ground. "Yo Nega! Finally decided to face us?" Naruto asked as he and Tails stopped.

"Why of course! But first allow me to thank you." Dr. Nega smirked, seeing the confused looks on their faces.

"Thank us for what?"

"For dropping by!" Dr. Nega slammed his machine down to the terrain making it shake uncontrollably.

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"Oh now what did you do?!" Naruto asked as Tails heard something fall, making him look around in shock.

"Naruto, the terrain is collapsing!"

"WHAT?!" Naruto cried out as they started to fall causing Dr. Nega laughed while the Genin glare at him. "Playing dirty again, huh Doc? Well two can play that game!" He did a Hand Sign and two clones appeared.

They each did a Homing Attack at Dr. Nega's machine before they, along with Tails, fell causing them to scream.

"Ha! So long boys!" Dr. Nega waved before he began to fly away. "Now that those brats are finally out of the way," He smirks as he rubbed his hands in excitement. "I need to find that moronic guardian, so I can learn the location of that mysterious Emerald."

"Which you won't get your dirty little hands on, Fatman!"

"Right!" Dr. Nega nodded happily. "Which I won't get my dirty little hands on-HEY WAIT A MINUTE!" He was about to turn around but instead got attacked multiple times. The evil genius groans and looks back only to see a flying Tails carrying Naruto, both of them glaring at him. "Oh come now! What does it take to get rid of you brats?"

"Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing." Naruto's hands starts to glow in cyan aura. "Take this!" He swipes his hand down, launching a sharp blade made of pure psychic energy.

Dr. Nega's eyes comically popped out as he tried to turn away, only to have half of his Egg Mobile destroyed. "NOOO!" It soon started to exploded and it launched Dr. Nega to the sky as he turned into a twinkle.

**Music Ends**

Tails was awestruck at the attack before looking down at Naruto. "That's amazing Naruto! I didn't know you could do _that_!"

"Heh!" Naruto smirks, rubbing his thumb across his nose. "All part of my amazing psychic abilities little bud! There's some things that even _I_ didn't know I could with it."

Tails' was about to say something but then noticed how it slowly started to get dark. "Um, is it me or is it starting to get darker."

"It's not just you Tails." Naruto said wide eyed as he pointed ahead. "Take a look!"

Tails did what he was told and his eyes widened in awe.

**Music: Carnival Night Zone (Act 1) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

The two were now in a place that's similar to Casino Night Zone from West Side Island, but completely different. The Zone is a playful carnival filled with balloons, pinball bumpers and cannons to launch from, although unlike Casino Night Zone, there are no slot machines.

"Wow~" Naruto and Tails said at the same time.

Naruto released Tails as he landed on the ground while Tails landed next to him. "What is this place?"

"It's a carnival!" Tails cried out in excitement as stars appeared in his eyes. "I can't believe there's a carnival here! I always wanted to go to one!"

While Tails busy looking around the place, Naruto made two Shadow Clones and ordered them to go and search for the Giant Rings. Once they left, Naruto turns to Tails curious.

"What exactly is a carnival?"

Tails blinked at Naruto and a shocked gasp escaped his lips. "You don't know what a _carnival_ is Naruto?!" A deadpan expression was sent his way, making Tails blush and rub his head sheepishly. "Oh right. You're a ninja, so of course you don't know what a carnival is."

"Gee, you think?"

Tails coughed and walked ahead with Naruto following behind him. "To make it simple, a carnival is basically a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks and public street party."

Naruto went wide eyed. "Whoa! Seriously?!" He's definitely heard of a circus before, seeing how he snuck into one and fell in love with it. But to hear about this 'carnival' thing that not only combines a public street party but also a circus is getting him pretty excited to learn something new.

"So what does the carnival celebrate?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"Well it's a _public_ celebration. So I guess anything." Tails said.

"_Man, I wish the guys could see this."_ Naruto thought, looking around the place more. He stopped and felt another headache but that didn't stop the increasing smile on his face. "All right! We got all of the Chaos Emeralds!"

The moment he said that, seven glowing lights appeared around Naruto before the lights revealed themselves to be the seven Chaos Emeralds.

"YEAH! WE GOT THEM! High five!" Tails and Naruto cheered as they jumped and gave each other high fives. After that was done, the Emeralds went back into Naruto's being as he gave off a rainbow-like aura.

"C'mon Tails! We may have the Emeralds but the adventure's not over yet!" Naruto said as dashed forward, with Tails following close behind.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Hidden Leaf Village**

Back in the Leaf Village, at Ramen Ichiraku, Iruka couldn't help but stare at his bowl of ramen with a worried look on his face. "_It's been nearly 2 weeks since Naruto vanished and we started have heard anything from him yet! What on earth is happening to him out there!? Where are you Naruto?"_

A week. That's how long Naruto has been gone. And they haven't heard nothing! They expected to get a letter from him, or hell, even the other villages that at least had him, but no!

Not only that but there were rumors going around that Naruto had deserted the village since he hasn't done his usual pranking, there are also rumors where he may have been…

"_NO!"_ Iruka shook his head. "_There's no __**way**_ _Naruto would desert the village or die out there! After all, he's too stubborn to die!"_ He really wants to go out there and search for his former student but he has no idea where to start! There isn't any clues to tell him where he's disappeared too!

But then again, there's also that friend of his. Like Kakashi said, Naruto might just be using this chance to try and find her. Naruto's probably been too focused on that, that he doesn't even realize that he got people here in the village that's worried about him. Either that or he has no way to communicate with them.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka blinked and looked turns around, seeing Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi enter the ramen stand. They all took a seat and ordered their ramen.

"So, what are you doing here Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked. "This is actually the first time I've seen you here by yourself."

"Just…" Iruka looked down. "Just thinking about Naruto."

That made Squad 7 look at Iruka before Sasuke and Sakura frowned and looked down as well. Believe it or not, those two actually miss that annoying showboating idiot. Nearly 2 weeks passed and no word from him, greatly worried them, especially Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed as he looked next to him, imagining Naruto sitting there with them grinning at them with his signature thumbs up.

"_Wonder what you're doing right now Naruto?"_

* * *

**Carnival Night Zone**

"COME THE FUCK ON!" Naruto roared in annoyance as he tried to move the barrel that's blocking his and Tails only way out of the locked room by jumping on it.

Tails was on the sideline as he was observing Naruto, sweat dropping as he saw Naruto punching it, kickin it and trying to move it with his telekinesis.

"WHY! WON'T! YOU! MOVE! RRAAAH!" Naruto sent a barrage of Chaos Spears at the barrel but tha didn't do nothing.

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village**

"So, how are things going?" Iruka asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh, things are going well actually." Kakashi said, waving his hand up and down. "Doing missions, training, you know the usual." He reached into his pocket, taking out a Gold Ring. "Ever since Naruto told us about these Gold Rings, they've been incredibly useful." His eye moved to his two students. "Especially when it comes to taking damage."

That made Sasuke deadpan and Sakura to flinch comically as they recalled the training Kakashi put them through. Ever since they found some Gold Rings, Kakashi has been using this chance to test how well they can protect you when it comes to taking damage.

They learned that no matter how much you get stabbed, punched, or even got powerful jutsu used on you, these Rings will _always_ protect you. Even if you fall into pit full of spikes. However, if you lose those Rings, you only get a few seconds to pick them up before they disappear. Yet, if you manage to get only one Ring, it's still enough to protect you.

Plus, the Power Boost you receive when you use the Rings are amazing! Whatever this Ring Energy is, it's definitely different from your average chakra and the results from using them are astonishing.

No wonder Naruto kept these Rings on him. But the main question is...where _exactly_ did they come from? And how does Naruto know so much about them when they haven't been recorded in history? Kakashi should know, because he looked them into the library and he hasn't found anything on these Gold Rings, it's like they just popped into existence.

Iruka saw the reactions on both Sasuke and Sakura's face, making him sweat drop. "I...I see…" He looks at the Gold Ring. "I gotta be honest, it does make wonder where those things came from and how Naruto knows about them."

"It makes me wonder that as well." Sakura said. "I still can't believe these thinfs exist. Now that I think about it, I think we're the only ones in the village to know about them."

"Or better yet…" Sasuke spoke up, looking at his Gold Ring. "We're the _only_ village in the Shinobi World who have them." He remembered how Zabuza looked confused when he saw the Gold Ring and was shocked when Naruto used it on him.

"That's right." Kakashi nodded. "I tried to look them up in the local library, but there was no records of them. At all. It makes me wonder if Naruto _really_ knows where they come from."

"But sensei, Naruto said they just started to pop up out of nowhere." Sakura reminded him.

"True. But how does Naruto know so much about them if they _started_ to pop up?" Kakashi asked. "Even the part about the Ring Energy that's inside these things?"

That made Sasuke and Sakura look at their sensei before looking thoughtful, Iruka however narrowed his eyes at Kakashi from what he was implying.

"...what exactly are you trying to say Kakashi?"

"Oh nothing." Kakashi shrugged. "Just saying that Naruto is certainly smart when it comes to knowing the unknown."

Iruka's eyes were still narrowed before he turns away and begins to eat his ramen.

"Still, I hope Naruto is okay." Sakura frowned. "And that he finds his friend."

"Well, the world _is_ a big place." Kakashi remarked. "Naruto's friend could be anywhere. Or better yet, if anything... she's probably out there searching for him too."

Unknown to any of them, the girl that they were talking about sneezed again, waking her up from her slumber.

"All we can do now is just hope Naruto finds his way back home." Kakashi said, looking up. "_Wherever_ he is."

* * *

**Angel Island**

**Music: Launch Base Zone (Act 2) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"Oh no, the Death Egg is about to start launching!" Tails cried out, feeling the area around them shake.

"Alright! Get ready Tails! We're almost near the Death Egg!" Naruto said.

The Duo are now inside the Launch Base Zone. The Zone, being the launch site of the Death Egg, features many defenses designed to keep out intruders. The surface of the Zone is primarily yellow bricks. There are also many pipes that seem to be used for transporting water, which they were running on now, hinting that it's in a lake.

After escaping the Barrel of Doom, which Naruto called after realizing the damn thing had to move up and down with him on it to get out, the Duo continued on their journey through the Carnival. Along the way they ran into Knuckles, who turned out the lights to try and throw them off course, making them go through the underwater section of the Zone.

They soon ran into Dr. Nega inside his Energy Ship and fought him on, mostly thanks to Tails for using his helicopter tails to land a hit from the bottom.

After defeating him and releasing the captured Animals, the Duo got launched out of a cannon and into the Ice Cap Zone.

Upon entering this Zone, Naruto had a blast. Because the moment he entered and Spin Jump on a snowboard and found him boarding down the snowy mountains with Tails holding onto his back. After snowboarding the mountain and landing inside an icy cavern, much to Naruto's disappointment as he had a ton of fun.

They explored the caverns before fighting against a robot called Iceball. Once they destroyed it, they found themselves outside and continued on, going through loop de loops, destroying Badniks and avoiding the icy spikes or other hazardous things.

They eventually ran into Dr. Nega once again inside his Freeze-O-Matic, and of course, took him down. They released the Animals and continued on their way, finding themselves at the Launch Base Zone.

Right now, the Duo were running along some pipes near a lake.

"Huh?" Tails' ears twitched as he heard something. It sounded...almost like a whistle. He looks up and his eyes widened comically as he saw a cannonball heading towards them. "WAH?! Naruto! Cannonball!"

"Huh?" Naruto looks up and the cannonball landed on his face, making him fly backwards in a comical manner as Rings came out of him.

"N-N-Naruto! Are you okay?!" Tails cried out, wailing his arms comically as he flew towards his best friend. He removed the heavy cannonball out of Naruto's face and his eyes widened comically.

"Wa…" Naruto's eyes became swirls while small Rings circled around his head. He shook his head coming to his senses and hissed. "God damn! If I didn't have any Rings on me, that would've hurt like hell! Who did that?!"

"HA! Bullseye!" Dr. Nega's voice was heard throughout the area, making the Duo look ahead. His Egg Mobile was connected to two cannons set below the hill they were on.

And from the looks of it, there was door set between the two.

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"Take this fools!" Dr. Nega yelled as he shot out multiple cannonballs at the Duo.

"Whoa!" Naruto and Tails screamed as they comically dodged the cannonballs.

"Oh you are so gonna get it for that stunt you pulled Nega!" Naruto shouted comically. He squeaked as he bent his upper body back to dodge an incoming cannonball.

"And how do you plan on doing _that_ Uzumaki?" Dr. Nega asked smugly, watching the Duo dodge his cannonballs. He closed his eyes and began to stroke his mustache. "In case you haven't noticed, I got you and the Fox Brat right where I want you. And unless you want me to stop, you better hand over those Chaos Emeralds."

"How about I hand you _these_ instead?"

**Music Ends**

"Hm?" Dr. Nega opened one eye before they were both snapped opened comically. He saw Naruto floating in the air, with Tails on his back, and he had gathered a large of amount of cannonballs together to form a large one. He sweated nervously at seeing the smug grins on the Duo's faces. "Oh no."

"Oh…" Tails started, his grin growing bigger.

"Yes!" Naruto finished as he threw the large mass of cannonballs.

Dr. Nega screamed comically as he tried to get out of his machine but was too late as the large cannonball knocked both him and the machine into the lake, resulting in the machine to explode.

**Music: Launch Base Zone (Act 2) [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

"That was amazing Naruto!" Tails complimented turning to his big brother figure before his expression turns into concern as Naruto's nose was leaking blood and he was holding his head. "Oh my gosh! Naruto, are you okay?"

"Don't worry. I'm fine." Naruto wiped his nose. "It was the first time I ever gathered so many things with my ESP. Guess I need to get use to it more." He shook his head and rubbed his brow, feeling his headache calming down. "Alright, we're almost done Tails. Nega won't stay down after that. C'mon, let's destroy this Death Egg once and for all!"

Naruto ran ahead, going down the steps before seeing the Egg Mobile floating there. He and Tails blinks and turns to each other in confusion. They turned back to the Egg Mobile.

"Huh. Must've been his escape route." Naruto shrugged before he and Tails jumped in. The moment they did the Egg Mobile moved on it's own accord. If he was honest, Naruto would've used his ESP but he was still feeling slight pain after gather so much of those cannonballs. Besides, he can relax this way.

Naruto chuckles. "Heh! This is like flying the Tornado, huh Tails?"

"You know it." Tails smiled.

"Hold it right there!"

**Music: Knuckles' Theme [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

Naruto and Tails looks ahead and saw Knuckles standing on one of the beams, arms crossed and a glare on his face. An annoyed look appeared on Naruto's face as he stops the Egg Mobile.

"Oh come on!" Naruto groaned.

"Where do you think you're going?" Knuckles asked.

"We don't have time for this! Listen Knuckle Jackass," Naruto ignores the growl that escaped Knuckles' lips. "We're not here to steal the Master Emerald! Dr. Nega is the one after it!

Tails nodded. "He's going to use it to power up his Death Egg and we're trying to stop him before that happens."

"But how can we when _you're_ in the way?" Naruto pushed the button on the Egg Mobile as it continued its way. "Now move it! We'll settle this later."

"You ain't going anywhere!" Knuckles punched the Egg Mobile as it moved back. "And do you _really_ expect me to believe that? You guys are just gonna take the emeralds for your own selfish needs! Well I won't let that happen, not when I'm around." He crossed his arms and chuckles.

"That's really annoying." Naruto deadpanned.

Just before a retort could be made from Knuckles, the whole area suddenly starts to shake. Knuckles was trying to balance himself on the beam but both ended up falling into the lake as Knuckles screams comically.

"Whoa! What's going on!?" Naruto asked.

"It's the Death Egg! It's launching!" Tails exclaimed.

"Oh no it's not!" Naruto exclaimed as he grabbed Tails and flies to the Death Egg. The two watched as the rockets starts to fly off the water. It wasn't really fast, just slow, which is good as it gives them time to get on board.

They landed on the platform below the Death Egg and looks around.

"Alright, we're on!" Tails said happily.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "Now let's hurry up and stop this thing."

"Sorry but that's not going to happen!"

**Music: Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

Tails jumps in alarm and looks around while Naruto face palmed before dragging his face.

"He _always_ comes back." He muttered to himself.

"Not if my **Beam Rocket** has anything to say about it!" Dr. Nega exclaimed as he up from below, making the two lookup at the machine, with Tails have a scared expression while Naruto looked tired.

Beam Rocket is a tall rocket craft powered by two pairs of rocket engines. It is composed of three sections with a cockpit set on top. The cockpit is guarded with a sparkling, possibly electric spiked ball that changes shape while hovering above it. The top and center sections have two laser beam cannons rotating around the sides.

"Beam Rocket? Is that really the best name you could come up with?" Naruto asked, making a vein pop out of Dr. Nega's head while Tails' giggled. "Cause if it is, I'm not impressed." He runs at Beam Rocket and does a Spin Attack at the cockpit.

But before he could make contact, a spike ball appeared and hit Naruto in the butt, making him cry out as he jumped back, holding his rear. "OW! OW! OW! OW!"

"Huh?!" Tails looked wide at Naruto. He was going to help him but he screamed as he felt a laser beam scorch one of his tails. "Owie!"

Dr. Nega laughed as he watched the two dance around while holding their rears. "Are you impressed, _now_?" The Beam Rocket soon fired more lasers at the Duo as they avoided them. "HA! HA! HA! That's it! Dance away! Keep on dancing you fools!" The Beam Rocket flew upwards.

Naruto and Tails glared up at Dr. Nega as they rubbed their butts and tail respectively. The two looked at each other just as the Chaos Emeralds appeared around Naruto. Devilish grins appeared on their faces.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Here I come!" Dr. Nega laughed as the Beam Rocket came back down, this time on the other side of the platform. "And I hope you put on another...good...show…?" The mad scientist eyes widened and his mustache went limp. He gulped nervously and shrunk back in his seat.

"Oh no."

**Music: Super Sonic Theme [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

There floating in front of him, with his arms crossed and a glare on his face, was Naruto Uzumaki. Only problem is...he's **Super Naruto**.

"Um…" Dr. Nega sweated once more as his eyes looked back and forth between Super Naruto and Tails. He smiles nervously. "I surrender?"

Super Naruto glares at Dr. Nega for a moment before a smile forms on his face. In an instant flash of light, he reappeared on the platform, his arms still crossed and eyes not leaving Nega with Tails doing the same.

Dr. Nega looks at Naruto before looking around nervously. Seeing nothing happened, he sighed in relief. However, Super Naruto and Tails watched as fist shaped holes appeared all over the Beam Rocket, making Dr. Nega's eyes widen. His mustache fell flat once he saw yellow lights appearing. If possible, it fell more when he saw Super Naruto and Tails wave at him.

"Oh eggs."

**BOOM!**

Beam Rocket exploded and it's pieces along with cockpit descends to the ground with Dr. Nega's screams echoing.

Super Naruto and Tails watched it all happen with smirks on their faces. They gave each other fist bumps as Super Naruto reverts to normal. They heard more explosions, making them look up and saw the platform was falling off the Death Egg.

"Uh-oh!" The Duo said at the same time. They heard an even large explosion, making them turn to the sky. They saw the Death Egg falling from it's launch and could see the explosions that appeared around it.

"It's not over yet is it?" Tails asked, though he knew the answer.

"No way Tails. We may have stopped the launch, but Nega will be back for the Death Egg and fix it up again." Naruto said seriously. "That's why we're gonna destroy it this time."

Tails look at Naruto before nodding his head and returning his sight to the falling Death Egg.

A smirk appears on Naruto's face. First South Island, West Side Island, then Little Planet and now Angel Island. Places from Sonic's World are now in his world and here he is exploring them. "_It's official. Best. Adventure. Ever!"_

* * *

**To be Continued**


	10. Ultimate 10

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 1 [V2]: Sonic Drive [English]**

***Instruments***

A Spin Ball is heading towards the camera before it changed to show Naruto running with a serious frown on his face.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures appears: One is Naruto giving a thumbs up and grin. The second is Tails, both his human and fox forms together, doing a pose and smiling at the readers. The third is Amy doing a pose, with her hands behind her back, smiling cutely. The fourth is Knuckles grinning and posing. The last pic is Blaze, her arms crossed and back turned to the viewers, looking over her shoulder.

The scene changes to show a falling Chaos Emerald.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures appears: One is Dr. Eggman Nega grinning evilly at the viewers. The second are various Badniks appearing comically. The third is Robo Naruto in a pose. The fourth is Metal Naruto in a pose based on Metal Sonic's artwork from Sonic Channel. The last pic is the Masked Boy in a stance of sorts.

The scene changes again to the Leaf Village, more specifically the Hokage Mountain.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

The camera zooms in on the mountain before it goes up to the clear blue sky to reveal the title:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

***Instruments***

Naruto was falling down to South Island before he used his Telekinesis to land down as he looks around in shock and disbelief.

He then notices a bunch of Badniks kidnapping Animals, making him frown seriously before he begins to destroy them and then runs ahead.

**Yesterday's rules are simply loose today**

**The best goal is to break them**

Naruto is running across the Zones of South Island before he stopped and was face to face with Eggman Nega, who was fuming at the sight of him. Naruto smirks and does a Spin Dash and charged at him.

Later, Naruto has the six Chaos Emeralds as they vanished and large flowers appeared on South Island. He grins as he turns to the Tornado.

**If I don't keep running**

**There's no other meaning**

The scene changes to show Naruto landing the Tornado on West Side Island as Tails comes flying towards him but he sneezes as he changed between his fox form and human form before taking on his fox form.

An explosion is heard, making Tails jump up as they turned and saw Eggman Nega laughing evilly before he flies away.

**It's a punk philosophy**

Naruto grins at Tails as he gave him thumbs up, making him nod happily and the two raced forward across the Zones.

**Biorhythm is...a two-time rhythm**

The scene changes to show Naruto inside the Death Egg as he battled against Robo Naruto before destroying him. The Death Egg shook and Naruto heard something behind him. He looks bafk him and saw the Death Egg Robot getting ready to stomp him.

**The scenery instantly becomes countless lines**

**The wind envelops me**

Naruto grins as the Chaos Emeralds appeared around him before he absorbed them and transformed into Super Naruto.

He grins up at the Death Egg Robot before he charged at him and out of the Death Egg as it exploded. He winks and gives a thumbs up to the viewers.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE attack**

**Surpass everything altogether**

**I won't let anyone**

**Or anything get ahead of me**

The scene change to show Naruto running across a green field. Something caught his attention as he stops and looks up, seeing a planet chained to a mountain. He runs up to the mountain till he was at the top.

He Spin Dash down the mountain before he jumped off the ramp and landed on the chain as he ran on it, heading towards the planet.

**INSIDE OUTSIDE, GO! SONIC!**

**Everything altogether, YES! SONIC!**

**"Watch out" and "Have a nice" are similar**

**That's right – both are by the skin of your teeth**

Blaze is riding on a boat, looking at the horizon with a soft smile present on her face.

At the Stardust Speedway Zone on Little Planet, the Masked Boy watches on as Naruto and Metal Naruto were racing on a track. Amy Rose is seen crying for head at the end of the track, while Eggman Nega chases after them with a laser beam on his Egg Mobile.

Naruto soon got in front of Metal Naruto as he reached his hand out to Amy.

**Throw boredom away**

**And start running**

The Death Egg is seen falling from the sky and landing on Angel Island, causing it to fall the ocean.

The Guardian of the Island, Knuckles, see's it falling. He runs over to where the Death Egg landed to investigate.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

Pictures are shown: The first is Amy hugging a blushing Naruto happily. The second is Naruto and Tails are flying to Angel Island. The third is Naruto fighting against Knuckles. The fourth is Blaze running across the jungle. The last pic is the Masked Boy leaning on the Altar of the Emeralds.

The scene changes to show the Master Emerald, with the Chaos Emeralds surrounding it. The Chaos Emeralds then transform into Super Emeralds.

**S-O-N-I-C, GO!**

More pictures are shown: The first is Dr. Nega taking the Master Emerald from its shrine, with Knuckles grabbing onto his Egg Mobile while Naruto and Tails chase after them. The second pic is Naruto and Tails running through the Sky Sanctuary, seeing the Death Egg rising in the background. The third pic is Naruto up in space as he looks back at a giant mech with the Master Emerald inside it, a comical shocked look on his face. The last pic is the mural from the Hidden Palace Zone.

The scene changes to show Naruto giving a mighty roar as his body started to glow in a rainbow color.

**GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!**

A silhouette of Naruto's new transformation is seen, with his back turned to the readers, a rainbow aura covering his being. The camera zooms in on his back as he looks over his shoulder, showing his now purple eye.

* * *

**Ultimate 10: Naruto and Knuckles! Birth of the Hyper Form!**

**Chapter Cover: **Naruto and Knuckles stood side to side on a cliff looking at the readers with grins on their faces, with Angel Island in the background. (Based on Sonic & Knuckles startup screen)

* * *

**Music: Mushroom Hill (Act 1) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

After watching the Death Egg fall down somewhere else, and the platform they were on landing elsewhere as well, Naruto and the humanized Tails were falling through the trees, screaming before landing on a giant mushroom.

They looked at each other before the mushroom bounced them into another mushroom as they screamed in surprise. The mushroom bounced them in the air before they landed on the ground.

"Oh man! That was crazy!" Naruto cheered.

Tails laughed as he clapped his hands. "No kidding! It was kind of scary at first but when we bounced on those mushrooms it was fun!" He looks around the new location they were in.

A forest that's filled to the brim with giant mushrooms.

"Wow~" Naruto said in awe as he looks at the giant mushrooms. He walks ahead of the path with Tails flying ahead of him as he jumped on one of the mushrooms. "I never seen so many large mushrooms before."

"Yeah!" Tails agreed as he bounced off the mushroom. "This must be some sort of **Mushroom Valley** or something."

"More like **Mushroom Hill** to me." Naruto stated.

"That name actually fits!" Tails said happily as Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

If he was completely honest with himself, the name of this place just suddenly popped into his head. Ever since coming here, he's been knowing the names of the location of the Island. Like each time he enters a new place, he would automatically know it's name.

He noticed they were walking to a cliff. He looks down curiously before his eyes widen.

"Hold up!" Naruto grabbed a surprised Tails by his twintails, stopping him from walking and pulled him down with him.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

"Shh." Naruto hushed him. He points down to the cliff.

They looked down and saw Knuckles looking around. He runs ahead before he jumps on a switch that closed a door. He nods to himself and runs off somewhere.

"What was that about?" Tails asked.

"I don't know. But it seems that ol' Knucklehead is hiding something." A fox-like smirk appears on Naruto's face. "Let's check it out! It's probably something embarrassing!"

The duo jumped off the cliff, with Naruto landing on the switch. The door opened up once more and the two entered. Their eyes widened at what they saw.

"Is that a Giant Ring?" Tails asked.

"I think so…" Naruto trailed off, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "But why is it flashing in multiple colors? Matter of fact, why is it even here? We got all the Chaos Emeralds."

"Let's check it out." Tails said.

The two jumped inside the Giant Ring as it disappeared.

* * *

**?**

**Music: Hidden Palace Zone [Sonic & Knuckles]**

You know how you enter a Giant Ring and it automatically takes you to a Secret Zone?

Well that flashy Giant Ring didn't take our heroes to the Secret Zone. Instead, in the flash of an orange light, they found themselves standing in front of an Emerald Shrine.

"Huh?!" Naruto and Tails asked as they looked around, before something caught Tails' attention.

"Hey look!"

Naruto looks to Tails and saw him pointing at something before he looks up also and his jaw dropped in comical shock.

"What the hell?! Is that a giant Chaos Emerald?!"

There above their heads is giant green Chaos Emerald. Around the large emerald were empty pedestals.

"Amazing! This must be the Master Emerald Knuckles was talking about." Tails said in awe.

"I think you're right Tails…" Naruto muttered, staring at the emerald in a daze.

"Where are we? Is this a Secret Zone?" Tails asked.

"No…" Naruto said as images of Sonic entering this place flashed in his head. "This place is…" He felt the Chaos Emeralds leave his person, much to his and Tails' surprise.

They watched as the emeralds began to circle in place before they split off. The emeralds landed on the empty pedestals in a flash of orange light.

"What? What just happened to the emeralds?" Tails asked eyes widened.

When the Chaos Emeralds landed on the pedestals, they grew larger and were completely colorless.

"They evolved…" Naruto said in a trance as more images of Sonic in this place flashed in his head. An excited smile soon appears on his face. "The Chaos Emeralds evolved and became...**Super Emeralds**!"

"_Super_ Emeralds?! So cool~!" Tails' eyes shined like stars as he looks at the newly evolved emeralds. "It must've been the Master Emerald that triggered their evolution! But looking at them now, it looks like the Super Emeralds needs to have power."

"Then let's power them up!" Naruto grins as he does his signature hand sign. **"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"** Six clones appears and the original grabs Tails. "Alright guys! Let's do it to it!"

"Yes sir!" Everyone, including Tails, saluted. They all jumped on each individual Super Emeralds and they vanished in a flash of light.

Minutes later, small white stars started to gather to each of the Super Emeralds. As they touched them, each emerald begins to light up in their original colors.

The Master Emerald itself begins to glow, unknowingly triggering an awesome transformation between Naruto, Tails and Knuckles.

* * *

**Mushroom Hill Zone**

**Music: Mushroom Hill Zone (Act 1) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Naruto and Tails exited the Giant Ring and were running out through the mushroom filled forest.

"Awesome!" Naruto cheered as he did a small victory jump. "We did it!"

"Yeah! We charged up all of the Super Emeralds!" Tails cheered also. "We're the Ultimate Team!"

"Damn straight little dude!" Naruto said in excitement.

They entered a cave and Naruto jumped from wall to wall, to reach the higher level and doing a spin dash to destroy a Badnik, while Tails flew behind him to catch up, exiting the cave.

The two were now jumping on the giant mushrooms as they reached a higher platform before jumping on a yellow spring, sending them flying through the air. Once they saw they were going to a slope they got into their spin ball. They rolled down the slope, going through a loop, and got launched in the air.

Once they landed, they continued to run ahead. They saw a pole up ahead as they grabbed it and spun around in place before going back the same way, this time going to a lower level.

They grabbed a bunch of Rings and jumped out of the way to avoid the spikes. They went through a loop again and entered an area that was filled with tall trees.

Naruto noticed a shadow was looming over them. He looks up and his eyes widened as he saw something was thrown at them. His eyes widened as he saw it was three golden axes.

"HOLY SHIT!" Naruto yells as he stops running and held his hands out, grabbing the axes with his telekinesis.

"Whoa!" Tails jumped in surprise at seeing the axes. "Where did those come from?!"

"Him." Naruto said as he pointed in the air. They saw the Super Badnik, Hei Hou, floating down towards them holding an axe. "Oh great. A Badnik with an axe to grind." Hei Hou swung his axe at Naruto, only for him to roll out of the way. "Hey watch where you're swinging that thing Tin Man!"

Hei Hou then launched a chunk of woods at Naruto.

"Cause you know what they say right?" Naruto asked as he spin dashed through the woods and got around Hei Hou. "What goes around…" His hands was covered in a cyan aura. "Comes around!"

He sent a wave of telekinesis that cut Hei Hou in half and explode upon impact.

"Yeah! You sure showed him who's boss Naruto!" Tails cheered.

"Please. Please hold your applause." Naruto said, waving his hand up and down. He runs ahead with Tails following after him. "I feel like this getting easier and easier by the minute! We are in the zone today Tails. Now let's just hope nothing stops-"

**Music: Knuckles' Theme [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Naruto stops talking as he and Tails saw something blocking their way. They also heard chuckling coming from the blocked wall. The two immediately knew who it was behind the chuckling.

"Knuckles! Come out here so I can blow you away personally for being a jackass!" Naruto called out.

"The only ones who are gonna get blown away are you two clowns!" Knuckles' voice was heard. "Literally."

The Duo heard a 'clicking' sound and felt the wind blowing underneath them.

"Huh?" Tails asked. His eyes widened as he felt the wind getting stronger and stronger making him grip the ground along with Naruto, who only had an annoyed expression.

"Oh great."

The wind got so strong they lost their grips and were blown upwards. Tails' was screaming comically while Naruto just remained neutral. Once they were high enough, the wind suddenly died down and two fell on their feet.

**Music: Mushroom Hill Zone (Act 2) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

"What the hell?" Naruto asked, taking a look around.

They were still in Mushroom Hill, but something was different. All of the leafs were orange and the mushrooms were blue.

"Orange leaves?" Tails asked. "It's Fall? But that's impossible. We're in the beginning of summer!"

"This has Eggman written all over it." Naruto said as he looked at the falling leaves. He walks forward making Tails follow after him.

"It does make sense." Tails said, looking thoughtful. "He must've made a machine to control the seasons. But why?"

"Who knows." Naruto shrugs. "Probably just to mess with us. Still all the same, we're gonna find it and destroy it. Come on!"

The two instantly ran off, going down a slope and a loop, and were sent flying into the air. They destroyed a few Badnik that spotted them and gathered some Rings. They jumped on a mushroom and landed on a platform, which had a box of Gold Rings

"Cool!" Naruto spin jumps it, collecting the Rings. The two fell down and landed on a large vine as they grind it.

"Yahoo!" Tails cheered.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted happily.

The two jumped off the large vine and landed on a mushroom platform. They quickly jumped off it once they felt it shake and it fell.

They entered a mini cave where they saw a bunch of Gold Rings in circular motion. They gathered the Rings and exited the cave. They quickly noticed the season has once again changed.

"The season changed!?" Tails asked as he looked back at the cave they exited.

"Which season is this?" Naruto asked curiously. Everything looked grey and the mushrooms were green.

"When we first came here, it was summer." Tails explained. "The season we just left was autumn, so this must be winter."

"Winter?" Naruto released a breath and he could see it. "Something tells me we might be getting close to Eggman's machine. I can feel it."

Tails' fox ears twitched. "Right. In fact, we're so close, I can hear it!" His ears twitched again.

"I think I hear it too." Naruto said in a surprised tone.

"Wow! Guess great minds think a lot, huh?" Tails smiled.

"No, I mean I _really_ hear it. Listen." Naruto told him.

They were quiet as they listened and sure enough they did hear something. It was an engine running.

"Eggman's Machine!" Naruto and Tails said at the same time.

They both ran off, going through a loop, before heading down a slope. They jumped on a platform and destroyed the Badniks that was there. The two jumped on a yellow spring as they soared across the sky.

They did a spin dash and landed back on the ground, they got trapped on some vines from the ground.

"What the-!?" Naruto was about to swear before he saw two Butterdroids coming to them. He grabs the using his ESP and smashed them.

He grabs Tails hand and ran forwards to get out the sticky vine. They got out and continued on to their destination.

They were getting closer now. They could hear the machine and it was coming from above them. They looked up and saw something which made Naruto raise a brow.

"What is that?"

"That's a pendulum." Tails replied.

"Pendulum? What's it for?" Naruto asked.

"Looks like our way of going up." Tails said, looking up and seeing there's upper level where the machine is located.

"Meh, let's take the easy way up."

Naruto grabs Tails and flies up, going through a tunnel and got out of it, prompting Naruto to stop using his ESP on them. The two continued to follow the path before their eyes widen as they saw the very device they were looking for.

"Boo-yah!" Naruto and Tails said happily. They both spin jumps the weather machine and destroyed it, making the season return to summer once again. Before they could celebrate, they felt and heard the ground rumbling below them.

**Music: Boss [Sonic & Knuckles]**

"Ohohohoho!" Dr. Nega came out of the ground, his Egg Mobile now heavily armored and with jets on it. "Surprise!"

"Dr. Nega!" Tails glared.

"Not that surprised." Naruto said. He does a Homing-Attack on the Egg Mobile.

"How dare you do that to my **Jet Mobile**!" Dr. Nega flew backwards, prompting Naruto and Tails to chase after him.

"Trying to run away? I won't let you Dr. Neggy!" Naruto smirks as he does a Spin Attack on the Jet Mobile.

"Stop that!" The Jet Mobile boosted backwards again. But that only cause the Duo to run faster after him.

Tails saw something up ahead and it made his eyes widen frantically. "Incoming Naruto!"

Naruto looks at the path before his eyes widen as well. He saw spiked ball hurdles ahead of them. "Whoa!" The two quickly jumped the hurdles while also ducking them.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Dr. Nega laughed at them. "Try and get me as you avoid them!"

"_So that's his game huh? He's trying to use the hurdles to get us."_ Naruto thought to himself. He smirks to himself. "Well two can play that game! Grab on Tails!" He reached his hand out to Tails who instantly grabbed it. He used his ESP to fly in the air, just above the Jet Mobile.

"What!? That's cheating!" Dr. Nega exclaimed.

"Again, you have no room to talk about cheating! I told you that back at Stardust Speedway." Naruto said as a smirk appears on his face. "Besides we want to get a better view of the fireworks."

Dr. Nega raised a brow while Tails tilt his head to the side in confusion. "What fireworks?" The mad scientist asked. Naruto grins evilly at him, which made the scientist nervous all of sudden. He began to sniff something in the air.

"_What's that smell?"_ If he didn't know any better, he would say it smells like a piece of paper was burning. So then what was making that whistling sound that sounds like a dynamite...coming from underneath his…

The mustache on Dr. Nega's face dropped as his face went comically pale. "Oh no."

"Oh _yes_."

**BOOM!**

**Music End**

A large explosion came from underneath the Jet Mobile, which in turn made multiple explosions around it as Dr. Nega screams comically. The Jet Mobile then crashed into a tree, while Naruto and Tails were running on the ground as they entered said tree through a hole and exited.

"Yeah! That was awesome!" Tails said happily. He turns to Naruto, who jumped on a capsule that held the captured Animals, releasing them from their prison as they ran off. "When did you put your tag bombs on Dr. Eggman?"

"Simple little buddy." Naruto said in a cocky manner as he rubbed his finger under his nose. "When I used my ESP to carry us, I also took and placed them underneath him when he wasn't paying attention."

A Flicky landed on Naruto's shoulder and chirps happily at them, making him turn to it slightly while Tails giggled in amusement. The three then heard something coming from the sky, which scared the Flicky as it flew away.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked in surprise. A large shadow looms over them, making them up and saw a flying battleship, with a Badnik piloting it. He groans as he hung his head. _"Oh come on. He's got another one of those airships?"_

Their eyes widened as they heard Dr. Nega's laughter. They looked up and saw him in his regular Egg Mobile flying above them.

"How do you like my **Flying Battery**, boys?" Nega asked as he enters the airship through a secret hatch door as it closed behind him.

"Oh no you don't." Naruto said as he and Tails quickly flew after him, before the airship gets further up to the clouds. Naruto honestly looked impressed at the Flying Battery. "Sheesh, first the Wing Fortress and now this? Well it is slightly bigger, but I'll give it a five out of ten."

Tails narrowed his eyes in thought as he examined the aircraft. "Hey, doesn't this warship seem familiar?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Don't you remember when Angel Island was set on fire and we were being chased by a warship that dropped _bombs_ on us?" Tails asked back.

"...Now that you mention it..." Naruto looks down for a moment before memories of that event crossed his mind. He was right. When they running across the jungle, they were being chased by an airship. But then that airship just left after they went through some trees...where Eggman suddenly appeared.

A blank look appeared on Naruto's face as he looks at the Flying Battery. It looked _exactly_ like the same warship that bombed them despite the color change from it being green and now metallic gray. Then again, the jungle was covered in flames which changed the color of the environment and the warship which made it look green.

There's no doubt about it.

The Flying Battery is that very same warship that drop the bombs on them.

Naruto and Tails landed on the foothold of the warship, the blank look still present on Naruto's face.

"Tails."

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to enjoy **destroying** this airship." Naruto said, a dangerous glint in his eye as a savage grin appears on his face and he chuckled darkly which made his little partner to sweat drop nervously. "Let's go!"

**Music: Flying Battery Zone (Act 1) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Naruto and Tails did a spin charge before spin dashing their way inside the Flying Battery. Once they did, they were immediately assaulted by a bunch of Badniks that were waiting for them, though Naruto put an end to them quickly.

As they continued their way throughout the gigantic blimp, they noticed a bunch of capsules were around. But whenever they jumped on them, the capsules didn't have any Animal inside. In fact half were used as springs while the other half released some Badniks as though they were a trap.

They also had to avoid some flame jets which nearly cooked Naruto's butt for a brief moment. The flame jets also acted as well which they learned when they stood on it for some time which put a lot of pressure on it. They even acted as hidden switches.

After going through that, they found themselves outside the Flying Battery where they had to avoid large propeller wings and the missiles that were sent their way.

But Naruto used those missiles as an advantage as he grabbed them using his ESP made an entrance back inside the Flying Battery. They went threw a bunch of rotating gates which Naruto and Tails used to go down a level or across a large gap.

They went back outside, this time below the giant flying fortress. They jumped across many platforms before going through the rotating machines once more. They landed on a foothold and spin dashed upwards, heading back inside before going through a loop and used a red spring to jump on a platform.

However, Naruto used his chakra to jump off the platform and land on the wall, running up it, with Tails flying in front of him. When they made it up top, they saw another capsule...by itself.

The two looked at each other with raise brows. Okay, something was not right with this. Even though this blimp is full of those fake/empty capsules, just seeing one by itself...all alone...with no other dangerous hazards near it, just told them that something was off with this one.

Naruto made a Shadow Clone appear next to him.

"Check that capsule out." Naruto ordered the clone.

"Got it."

The two watched as Clone Naruto walked up to the capsule, examining it. Clone Naruto even kicked it a bunch of times, a suspicious expression on his face. He looks up at the switch on top before jumps and landed on it.

**Music: Sub-Boss [Sonic & Knuckles]**

The moment he landed, two huge ball-and-chain arms came out from its sides, shocking the clone and the onlookers. Naruto and Tails even saw the capsule had eyes and was glaring up at Clone Naruto.

"What the hell?!" Clone Naruto shouted in surprise. He heard chain moving behind him and looks up to see the huge ball heading to him. "Ah crap."

The clone got destroyed by the huge ball but at the same the capsule...no **Gapsule** damaged itself, which Tails quickly noticed.

"Somehow I knew that was gonna happen." Naruto said, crossing his arms. "But I didn't think this thing was going to be a sub boss."

"It looks like we can't damage it head on." Tails told him. "Which means we have to make it…"

The eyes of the capsule looked their way before its eyes flashed. It raised its ball and slams it their way with Tails jumping away with a scream while Naruto casually avoided it with his hands behind his back. The ball retreated back to where it belong

"Attack itself?" Naruto asked. Tails nodded his head. "Pfft. This'll be over in a second." He jumps on top of the switch, the capsule's eyes locked on him. He saw the ball on the right getting ready to hit him. He smirks as he dashed upwards, making the ball hit the switch.

He held his hand out and used his ESP to hold the spiked ball in place. He smirks as he forced the ball up and hit the switch multiple times, making Gapsule's eyes pop out in comical pain.

"HAHAHA! Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!" Naruto laughed along with Tails.

A large vein appeared on Gapsule's as it glared at Naruto comically with tears swelling in its eyes. It used it's right side to try and get hit at Naruto...which is what he wanted.

The moment Naruto saw the ball heading towards, he 'stepped' to the side while releasing his hold on the other ball, causing both of them to slam into Gapsule, making its eyes go wide in shock.

**Music Ends**

Mini explosions erupted from Gapsule as the ball and chain arms fell off it. Before it exploded into pieces. Naruto and Tails were then surprised when they saw Animals escape the capsule.

"Huh. Who knew there were Animals inside." Naruto said as he landed next to Tails.

"Well, it was a capsule...and a Super Badnik." Tails pointed out as Naruto shrugs.

"In any case, let's find Dr. Moustache and try to blow this airship out of the sky." Naruto said.

**Music: Flying Battery Zone (Act 2) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

The duo went off once again to find Dr. Nega in this aircraft. They went up the wall and find the going up the rotating machines before spin dashing up on the ceiling and landed on the floor. They saw some mouse Badniks and destroyed them.

They jumped on some hangers which brought them downwards before they jumped and spin dashed across the way. They avoided many hazards that were in their way, which included spikes on the floor and walls.

Since there was so many passageways inside this blimp, Naruto decided which way would get them closer to Dr. Nega, with Tails following him. The only reason why Naruto knows where he's going because he seen flashes of Sonic running through this place and right now he's just going along with it.

They found some rotating drills going down and used the screws as an elevator. When they reached the bottom, they quickly left to avoid getting squished like a bug. They avoided some flame jets and along with the chained metal platforms that has spikes on their bottoms.

They destroyed the Badniks in their way and avoided more hazards. They then got another drill, this one taking them upwards. They got off and did a spin dash while also touching a dash pad, making them go faster as they went through the rotating machines and landed on the foothold on top of it. They ran ahead and saw Dr. Nega standing in front of a computer.

"Found ya Doc!" Naruto grins as he does a Homing Attack only for Negative to grin as he pushed a button and a barrier appeared. It ricochet Naruto back on the floor.

"Again with this barrier?" Naruto asked raising a brow and a smirk present on his face. "Come on Doc, I expected you to learn your lesson from last time you did this."

"Oh but I did." Dr. Nega pushed a button and a barrier appeared behind them, blocking the entrance which they came from.

"He blocked us!" Tails exclaimed.

"So how are you going to do this barrier thing this time?" Naruto asked, casually leaning on the barrier in front of Nega. He heard noises coming from above him, making him and Tails look up in confusion.

"Oh no~!" They said at the same time as their eyes widened. They gave out screams before diving out of the way as a laser fired at them, shaking the whole fortress.

"Hey! Watch where you're pointing that thing!" Naruto exclaims as he turns to glare at Dr. Nega. His eyes widen as the laser cannon moved along the roof to where he and Tails are at.

"I am…I'm pointing at **you**!" Dr. Nega laughed as he continued to push the button that fired the laser. The two split into as the cannon fired once again.

It was then Tails noticed the other barrier that blocked their entrance had moved a little closer than were it was before. He looks up at the laser cannon that was following Naruto. Once it fired and the Flying Battery shook again, the barrier got closer.

"Naruto! The barrier over here is moving closer to us!" Tails told Naruto, much to his disbelief. "If this keeps up we won't have any room to avoid the laser.

"Say what?!"

Dr. Nega laughed once again victoriously. "That's right Tails! And since you can't attack my laser eye directly, you both are doomed to be vaporized!"

Naruto and Tails ran around in random directions, avoiding the laser cannon as it tried to follow their movements. Once it was fully charged and was ready to fire, Naruto took out a kunai and threw it at the laser cannon, making electricity dance around it. It fired once more, this time with different results.

The laser cannon didn't stop and because of it, the whole warship kept shaking until loud explosions was heard. The explosion damaged the computer in front of Dr. Nega, much to his comical shock while the laser cannon exploded as well ceasing it to fire anymore laser.

"WAH! I'm outta here!" Dr. Nega cried out as he ran off just as the barriers went off.

"Hey! Get back here!" Naruto and Tails chased after him. They stopped as the Flying Battery continued to rumble and break apart.

"Whoa! We better get out of here quick!" Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed

The two started their escape as they avoided many objects that fell to them. They also had to avoid getting crushed due to the ship literally falling apart on them. Once they finally escaped they were out in the open, still on the foothold.

"That was close." Tails said as Naruto smiled a little bit.

"At least we took down the Flying Battery." Naruto looks around the area. "We're out in the open and there's sign of Eggman. Now...where the hell is he?"

"HERE!"

**Music: Boss [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Naruto and Tails looked up and screamed before moving out of the way as something latched on the foothold. They looked up and their eyes widened.

Dr. Nega is in a lanky-armed machine that has spikes covering both arms. He glares comically at the two of them, fire coming out of his mouth. "AND YOU BRATS OWE ME A NEW AIRCRAFT! Charge **Hang Mobile**!" He charged at them while his machine spun around in place before hiding below them.

"Heads up!" Naruto and Tails quickly flew over to the other side of the foothold before Dr. Nega could get back up.

But then Naruto screamed in comical pain as his butt got caught by a flamethrower which made him fall and caused Tails to cry out in shock. He grabbed his adoptive brother by the foot and quickly landed.

"WAAAHHH!" Naruto shot up and frantically patted his burning butt as he ran back and forth. "My butt is on fire! My butt is on fire! Help!"

"Bwah!" Tails quickly went to the rescue as he too patted Naruto's butt.

Dr. Nega, who moved his mobile out in the open, watched the comical scene as he laughed and pointed at Naruto. In fact, he was laughing so much he fell back in his chair, shaking his legs wildly.

After a couple of seconds, the fire dies down making Naruto and Tails sigh in relief. They both glared at Dr. Nega, who continued to laugh and not pay attention to them. They glanced at each other before Naruto turned away and teleports in front of the mobile

However, both of his fists were covered in violet and purple pulsating spheres.

"**Chaos Nightmare!"**

**Music Ends**

Naruto punched Nega's mobile, using both of his fists, causing it to explode off of its spiked clamps. Dr. Nega screamed as his mobile spun around and disappeared from sight becoming a star.

"Laugh at that fatass!" Naruto shouted, a large vein hovering above his head. He took a deep breath and released it before flying back to Tails, who jumped on a capsule and released the Animals.

"You all better?" Tails asked

"Yes. Yes I am." Naruto nodded, he held his hand out. "Shall we?"

"Let's."

Naruto and Tails ran forward along the foothold. They entered a room before they did a spin dash at a door. But by doing so, they both began to descend to the ground.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" The two screamed as they held each other. They went through a bunch of clouds, not paying attention to the fact that the color of the sky began to change from sunny to mid-day.

**Music: Sandopolis Zone (Act 1) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

They looked down to see where they were landing but only saw darkness. They landed in something soft and it sunk them to it. They did a spin jump out of wherever they landed in and sat on the ground.

Naruto spat out whatever was in his mouth while Tails shook his head and tilt his head to the side, making sand come out of his ears.

"Not the kind of landing I was expecting." Naruto said, spitting more stuff out of his mouth. He looks down saw there was sand everywhere, making him stand up in surprise. "Sand?! Whoa! Where is this? A beach or something?"

"No." Tails said, wiping the sand off his clothes. He got a good look around the sandy area, he could see palm trees and some pyramids in the distance. "I think we're in a desert!"

"A desert?!" Naruto asked in shock but groans. "Aw man! We're seriously in a desert? This is the first time I've been to a desert! I hope that we're aren't already."

"Don't worry Naruto." Tails smiled. "I'm sure we'll find a way out of here. All we gotta do is follow the path."

Naruto's eyes went flat from what Tails just said. He turns to look at him. "...what path?" He asked in a deadpan tone.

Tails blinks a couple of times as he saw the look his best friend gave him. He looks around again. "Well...um…" He sweat drops. That's right. They're in a desert. People get lost in a desert. He laughs sheepishly as he turns to Naruto. "Yeah. Good point."

Thanks to their enhanced hearing, the duo started to hear something from behind them. They looked back and saw Badniks heading towards them. They blinked at them before turning to each other and smiled at each other.

"Found it!" They said at the same time before smirking at the Badniks, which made them sweat drop fearfully. They destroyed the Badniks by spin jumping them before running off towards their destination.

As they journey across the shifty desert sands, the duo encountered many dangerous pits of quicksand. There were times when the duo had to use the sand-falls which allowed them move go upwards or made them follow the path. They even had to go through a loop twice before it made them go upwards a path.

They had to move some blocks out of their path and use them to travel. They even bungee jump down long ravines to progress further into their destination.

Once they went down one last ravine, the duo jumped off the wall and flips down into the center of sand-fall.

"Whoo!" Naruto wiped the sweat off his head while Tails used his twintails to fan himself. "I can't believe we finally made it through this **Sandopolis**."

"I'll say. We haven't even found a single Oasis out here." Tails said.

"Yeah. Now let's try and find a way out of this-" Naruto stops talking as he felt the ground below them shake. "Oh what now?!" He asked in shock.

"I don't know!" Tails exclaimed. He looks behind Naruto and his eyes widen in awe. "Look!"

Naruto turns back and his eyes widen while his jaw dropped in shock. A pyramid was rising out of the ground. This was just crazy! Not only is he having his first adventure going through a desert of a places but now he's actually about to going to explore a pyramid?!

How awesome is that?

While true, he never heard of pyramids before, basically because they don't even exist in his world and learned about them through Tails. In fact while he and Tails were always together, Tails would often teach many things he never heard of before, like Little Planet for example.

It just goes to show how big Naruto's world truly is and is all the more reason for him to want explore it.

Then again, South Island, West Side Island and Angel Island, along with Little Planet were from the Hedgehogs' world, that he knew for sure. But over time during his adventures, Naruto felt like he was experiencing what Sonic experienced when he traveled through those places...if those visions he keeps having mean anything to him.

It also made him wonder something...if the three islands and Little Planet are in this world now, then what about the other places from the Hedgehogs' world? Could they also be here as well?

Naruto shook his head. What the hell was he thinking at a time like this? He looks up just as the pyramid reached the top.

"Cool~" He said in awe. "So this what a pyramid looks like. The old man is going to flip when I tell him about this."

"Hey look Naruto. There's a door." Tails said, pointing at the door. He jumped and hid behind Naruto, who narrowed his eyes, as the door opened by itself.

They saw something emerge from inside the pyramid and was in front of them. And much to their confusion and surprise, it was large rock.

"Eh?" Before either of them could say anything else, legs began to appear from under the rock. "Eh?" Arms then appeared, and a second after, a head took form. "EHHHH?!"

"WAHH!" Tails screamed as he wailed his arms around. "It's a rock monster!"

"Rock monster? No problem!" Naruto said as he jumped and did a Homing Attack on the rock monster's head making it slid backwards as it's parts got destroyed. "See Tails? That thing is just...too...easy…?"

Naruto saw the rock monster reforms itself again and was now glaring at the two boys. The ultimate ninja sweat drops from that. "Ok. Really didn't know it could do that."

The rock monster, the **Guardian**, jumps at the duo making them jump back in surprise. Naruto runs forwards and attacks the Guardian again with a Spin Jump, only to get caught by its large hands and thrown away, earning a scream from him.

"Naruto!" Tails yelled watching Naruto about to fall into the quicksand. He sighed in relief when he used his ESP to float. He heard the ground tremble, making him jump in the air slightly. He stiffly looks behind him and saw the Guardian standing behind him.

"Um...hi?" Tails waved his hand nervously at the Guardian. He runs away from the only to stop as he was near the edge of the foothold, with quicksand below him. He turns to the Guardian and saw it was jumping towards him and he began to get nervous.

What could he do? If a spin attack won't hurt the Guardian then what will? How could he beat if it'll just reform again?

The fox genius looks at the quicksand pit before turning back to the Guardian. An idea formed in his head, a smirks forms on his face.

"Hey you giant rock! Is that really all you got?" Tails made goofy faces at the Rock Golem.

"..." The Guardian jumps once again with Tails running out of the way as the the Guardian landed. The Rock Golem turns to Tails only for the fox boy to Spin Attack it.

By doing so, the Guardian's body got sent into the quicksand. Surprisingly, the Guardian actually exploded while it sunk into the quicksand. Tails and Naruto, who landed next to him, watched on in surprise as the Guardian disappeared into the quicksand.

"Way to go Tails!" Naruto smirks at his little partner-in-crime as he pats his back, earning a laugh from him. "I knew you had it in you!"

"Aw shucks. It was nothing." Tails rubbed his head sheepishly.

The two heard something opening. They turned around and saw the door to the pyramid opened up. They walked towards it and stared into the pitch black darkness of the pyramid.

"Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah Tails?"

"I got a bad feeling about this."

"...me too bud."

The two glanced at each other nervously before they nodded, turning back to the inside of the pyramid. They walked inside it, with Tails holding Naruto's pants for comfort, just as the door closed behind them.

**Music: Sandopolis Zone (Act 2) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Now inside the dark pyramid, the duo continued on their path to now try and find their way out of it.

"What's up with this place? Are all pyramids this dark and spooky?" Naruto asked as he and Tails went under a platform that was moving up and down. "Where the hell is a light switch when you...oh wait a second." He saw chain hanging from a ceiling. He jumps and hangs from it causing the lights to switch on. "Much better!"

"Cool!" Tails said, looking around the lighted pyramid. "If we see more of those chains, we should pull on them just in case it gets dark."

"You bet." Naruto dropped to the ground and the two of them continued on their way, jumping across the large pit sand with Tails hanging.

"Say, why do you think there are light switches in here?" Tails asked.

"Huh?" Naruto tilt his head to the side. "What do you mean? Don't all pyramids have light switches?"

"No. Well, sort of." Tails answered as he released the switch. "In pyramids, most switches are well hidden and are used for deadly traps. Plus, pyramids use torches as means for light since they were made a million years ago."

Naruto had a surprise look on his face. "Whoa really? So then why does this pyramid have light switches? You think Dr. Nega had something to do with it?"

"I don't think so. Not even Dr. Nega would installed light switches in here. Maybe the people who once lived on the island installed them." Tails thought, placing a hand under his chin. "But why though?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought. He don't know why but he gets the feeling the light switches were put in to keep something away as it only appears in the dark. And for the first time since the start of his adventures, whatever it is these people were trying to keep away, Naruto _definitely_ doesn't want to know what it is.

Naruto also noticed the room lit up again. He looks up in confusion and saw Tails hanging on the chain again.

"Um, it was starting to get dark again." Tails said sheepishly with a hint of nervousness.

"Damn, so the light switches have a time limit." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Well let's hurry up and get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps."

"Me too." Tails said, letting go of the chain.

The two ran off, jumping on a spring which launched them up a level as they flew past more footholds before they landed on a path.

They saw a loop ahead and they grinned at each other. They did a spin dash as they went around it twice before they were sent upwards, only to hit a red spring as it launched them downwards.

They then landed on a capsule, much to their surprise to actually find one this early. They expected to see Animals come out of the pyramid... but instead they saw these white floating orb things fly out of the capsule and vanished.

That made Naruto and Tails to blink in confusion. They turn to each other. "What was that?" They asked at the same time before they shrugged their shoulders.

Naruto was going to turn forward but stopped when something caught his attention. It looked like a black movable switch. His eyes widened as he had a vision of Sonic being in here and pushed it before leaving the room

"Something wrong?" Tails asked, noticing Naruto in a trance before he shook his head.

"Nope. Not at all." Naruto used his ESP and had the black switch covered in cyan aura, which got Tails' attention. He moved it forward just as they heard a door opening.

The ultimate ninja quickly grabbed Tails' hand and ran past the closing door. Naruto continued to run before his feet slipped on some sand and they were riding down a sand slope.

"WHOAAAAA!" The two screamed in excitement as they rode down the slope.

"Yahoo!" Naruto puts his hands up in the air.

"This is awesome!" Tails yelled. They landed on another slope which took them in the opposite direction. The fox boy also noticed that it was starting to get dark again as the lights got lower and dimmer. "Hey! The pyramid is gonna get dark again!"

The moment he said that, the lights went out, making the fox boy squeak in fear. Naruto grabs the frightened Tails and leaps off the slide, jumping off a platform and landed on the sandy stone floor.

"Hahaha! Now that's what I call a ride!" Naruto laughed. He turns to the scared Tails as he held his pants leg tightly and smirks in a teasing manner. "Scared of the dark Tails?"

"N-No way!" Tails cried out, releasing Naruto's leg and glared at him, though it looked like an adorable pout. "Hmph!" He turns away from him.

Naruto rolled his eyes playfully before turning forward and looked around in the dark. "Now where's that light switch?"

Tails still looked away from his best friend. He felt a tap on his shoulder, making him go stiff for a moment. "Stop it Naruto! That isn't funny."

Naruto blinks and looks to where he heard Tails' voice. "What's not funny?"

"You tapping my shoulder from behind me!" Tails exclaimed. He flinched as he felt the tap again. "Cut it out!"

"Uh, Tails. I'm right in front of you." Naruto stated.

Tails froze in place before his eyes widen in fear, trembling very weakly. "Well...i-if that's not you, then what is it?"

Naruto's eyes widened. He quickly raised his hand and chaos energy was gathered, emitting a light that drove away the darkness surrounding them. He lifted his hand, where Tails' voice was coming from.

And what he saw made him go chalk white.

"T...Tails…" Naruto said in a hushed whisper, but the fear in his voice was as clear as day. "Come close to me...and _don't_ turn around."

Tails saw Naruto's expression and heard the obvious fear in his voice. He wanted to follow Naruto's orders but he couldn't do it. He also couldn't help but turn around. And what he saw sent chills of fear shooting down his body.

Floating in front of him, a few inches away from his face was what looked like a white sheet with horns. It black sharp eyes stared emotionlessly at Tails. It let out a high pitched giggle, scaring the fox boy silly as he instantly went behind Naruto.

"G...G...**GHOST**!"

"O-Okay. It's just one g-ghost after all." Naruto tries to smirk, trying to act tough in front of Tails. He definitely doesn't want to Tails know his fear of ghosts, despite his whole body shaking fearfully. "I can take him!"

The ghost let out another high pitched giggle as three more appeared next to it. Naruto and Tails went stiff staring at them with wide eyes. Their eyes widened further as they saw them grow three times their size, making them nearly as tall as Tails in his fox form.

"...Those what white orbs that were in the capsule earlier." Naruto said as he pointed at the** Hyudoro**. "I think we found them."

The high pitched giggle from the Hyudoro turned into terrifying growls as they charged at Naruto. "B-B-B-Back off jack!" He does a spin dash and charges at one of them. But just before he connected with them, they disappeared. Naruto uncurled, looking around for them. "Ha! Looks like I scared them off! You guys better run away from me!"

The ghosts then reappeared above and behind Naruto, making him sweat drop fearfully. "Okay. Plan B…RUN AWAY!"

The Leaf Genin spin dash to the ghost behind him, making it disappear, and uncurled himself as he grabbed Tails' hand. The Hyudoro blinked from the sudden action before they let out a loud growl as they chased after them.

"Dude! The hell is up with these guys!?" Naruto asked fearfully. Hearing a loud growl, he looks up and he let out a high pitched squeak as he saw the Hyudoro hovering above them. One of them charges at Naruto, making him kick it away as it disappeared. Another one popped out a second or two later.

"Shit! How do we get rid of them?"

Tails watched the ghosts as they repeatedly tried to attack Naruto. When they first came in here, it was so dark they could barely see, and then they found…that's it!

"The light switch!" Tails exclaimed. "That's why there are switches in here, to keep the ghosts away!"

Naruto looked to Tails with wide eyes before he grins. He looks up ahead and his grin widened further as he found what he was looking for. He looks at the ghosts, and their eyes showed a hint of nervousness.

"Eat light bastards!"

Naruto grabbed hold on the handle bar and a sudden brightness filled the whole pyramid, making the two heroes close their eyes tightly as they heard an ear piercing screech come from the ghosts. Once their eyes adjusted to the light, they noticed the ghosts have disappeared.

The heroes sighed in relief.

"That was close. What were those things?" Tails asked.

"Don't know. Don't care." Naruto deadpanned, still holding onto the bar. "Let's just find a way out of this haunted pyramid!" He let of the handle and ran off at high speed.

"W-Wait for me!" Tails quickly followed after him.

The duo continued their way in the hopes of finding a way out of the haunted pyramid. While doing so, they kept finding more switches that leads to a door opening to a room. They also made very sure to be on the lookout for any light switch that comes their way, making sure to activate it and not let Hyudoro come out again.

They even tried to find a shortcut, only to run into sand flows which raises the ground level in a room, which in turn made them also get crushed.

The duo made it outside a room and saw a loop. They spin dashed through the loop twice before they went through the ground, landing on a sandslide.

They instantly jumped off of it and fell through a pit. They landed and a switch for the entrance to a lower level. They pushed it just enough for when there's space for them to enter at the same time.

The duo landed on the sandy floor and saw they were in a large room where there was light. Not torches mind you, but actual lights.

"YES! Full lights! We made it! We made it! We made it!" Naruto and Tails cheered as they danced happily.

"Now let's get outta here." Naruto said happily. He turns to exit but blinked in confusion. "Hey check it out."

A tall, stone sphinx stood in front of the exit. It is about seven times Naruto's height. It is clad in stone armor and has spikes on the front of its feet as well as on its torso. At the top, there is a green gem resembling an eye.

"What's up with the statue?" Tails asked.

"I don't know." Naruto shook his head and ran towards it. "C'mon. Help me move it." The young heroes went to the statue to try and move it, but due to its massive size it wouldn't budge.

"Come on. Move you stupid-!" Naruto punched it to try and destroy, only to hear a metallic sound. He looks at his fist then to the statue in confusion. "...rock?"

Tails stopped trying to move it when he heard the clank sound. He looks at Naruto then to the statue, a thoughtful look on his face. He used the back of his knuckle to knock on the statue, hearing more metallic "clank". He looks at Naruto over his shoulder.

"Naruto? I don't think this is a statue."

Before Naruto could say anything, the duo heard something from above them. They look up and saw the green gem glowing. But they also the "statue" starting to move as well.

Tails backed away from it in fright while Naruto looked surprise but still back away.

The statue slammed it hands to the ground where the duo were, making them leap backwards.

"It's a robot?!" Naruto asked.

**Music: Boss [Sonic & Knuckles]**

The statue then moved towards them, making them taking their fighting stance. The green gem on its head glowed before it fired a green laser at them.

Naruto does a spin dash and launched himself at the statue. The moment he landed a direct hit, he got the rings knocked out of him...along with a large comical bump on his head.

"Ouch." Naruto's eyes widen as he rolled out of the way from the large hand that was going to squish him like a bug. "YOWZA!" He jumps to avoid the laser.

Tails watched on as Naruto tried to figure out a way to stop the moving large statue. He looks behind him and saw a wall behind him. "At the rate this is going, we might get crushed!" He turns to the statue and sae the gem glowing again.

A light bulb appears above his head.

"Naruto! Attack the head!"

"Got it!" Naruto jumps on the hand of the statue and spin attacks it. The moment he did, the stone tiles receded and revealed Dr. Nega inside the golem.

**Music Stop**

Naruto blinked.

Dr. Nega blinked.

Naruto's eyes narrowed into a glare as a grin forms on his face. The mad scientist sweated in fear.

"Um...hello?"

"Goodbye."

Naruto spin dashed through the Egg Mobile and through to the parts connected to it.

"NO! MY PRECIOUS **EGG GOLEM**!" Dr. Nega wailed comically as he flew away. _"Of all the rotten luck! I thought those ghosts would've taken care of them. And I spent forever trying to get them inside the capsule!"_

Naruto and Tails chased after him and made it out of the room. They saw a capsule sitting there by its lonesome.

"There better not be ghosts in this one." Naruto said. He jumps on the capsule...and much to his and Tails' joy, the capsule had Animals! "Sweet!"

"Hooray!" Tails jumps in joy.

The Animals cheered around them before they left to escape the haunted pyramid.

"See you later guys." Naruto waved goodbye to them.

"Be careful everyone." Tails waved as well. He turns to Naruto. "Bought time for us to get too, right?"

"Oh you have no idea." Naruto said, jogging to a room with his sidekick behind.

Tails then smirks at him. "So you're scared of ghosts too huh?"

"No I wasn't!" Naruto exclaimed, glaring at Tails. He turns away with a huff. "I was just...caught by surprise by them."

"_Sure_ you were." Tails said, not believing him in the slightest. He saw the look of fear on his face when he first saw them. He was as white as a ghost himself. And as they traveled through the pyramid, he heard him muttering "Keep the lights on" over and over again.

"Oh whatever Tails. You were scared t-AAAAAAHHHHHH!" The moment Naruto entered the room, he fell through a large hole.

"NARU-AAAH!" Tails screams also as he fell through the hole as well.

"Why does this always happen to us?!" Naruto shouted.

* * *

**Land of Fire: Silene Town**

Blaze sighed as she sat down on a roof and looks around the town she was in. She's been traveling throughout the Land of Fire for days now, though it feels like it's been almost weeks at most. Since then whenever she needed a break, she would always make a quick stop at a local town around the area.

She was also running out of food. The food themselves were gifts from local townspeople since she was a...foreigner to them and they wanted to make sure that she stayed healthy out there. There were even times when they would try to give her a weapon or two to make sure she defended herself from any bandits she might come across.

Though the truth is, during her journey she ran into some bandits, who were either trying to rob her, kidnap her, enslave her...or worst.

The Fire Princess immediately put an end to those disgusting vermin as she gave each of them severe burns that would take forever to heal properly. She doesn't regret her action one bit. After all, her father has taught her many things when it comes to outside world and when dealing with men like them.

"_Do not hesitate against enemies that threaten you, your loved ones and others, my child. Make them regret it severely."_

Is what he told her. And she did. She made sure to teach those bandits a good lesson when it comes to underestimating someone, especially a 12 year old princess who has the powers of flame.

She looks around Silene Town once again. This town is one of the most average town in the whole Land of Fire. There were shops, homes, stores, and along with a small gambling house.

But the one thing that makes this town special is the legend of an extremely rare flower that has special power.

From what she heard, this flower has the power to heal any sickness, rather it's known or unknown. Rumors also said that the flower can grant the user an incredible power the likes of which has never been seen before.

The town was once filled with dozens of these incredible flowers and the people used them to heal the sickness away from their loved ones.

But when word has spread about the flowers, many people both shinobi and civilians wanted to take the flowers and use them for their own selfish needs. The shinobi wanted to use the flower as a weapon to use against their enemies, while everyone else just wanted have the power that it held. And because of that, the flowers became extinct and were never seen from again.

Blaze sighs softly. "What am I doing? Thinking about some legend." She'll stay here for one more day, and after that it's back to her journey to the Leaf Village. She stood up and was about to jump off the roof but a noise caught her attention.

"WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE THE HELL DID THAT WOMAN GO!?"

Blaze blinked at the shouting and looks down. She sees a group of four men running around looking for someone, each one of them looking quite angry. One of them noticed her sitting on the roof.

"Hey kid, did you happen to see a woman around?"

"A woman?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah!" Another nodded. "She has light blond hair, brown eyes, a purple mark on her forehead and has a huge rack I've ever seen before!"

That last comment made Blaze's eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"Yeah! That damn woman ran off on her debt! She owe us a lot a money which she never had to begin with!" The third one said, who held an empty briefcase, showing it to Blaze.

"She also came with a woman with short black hair and carried a pig!" The fourth man said.

Blaze had half lidded gaze on her face. Debt collectors huh? And from the sound of it, it looks like this woman owes them a lot of money, meaning she's a gambler. She sighs and shook her head.

"My apologies, but I have never seen such woman."

"Damn it! She probably left town already!" One of the men cursed.

"Split up and keep finding her! The Legendary Sucker can't hide forever!"

The group of men separated and ran off in different directions. Blaze raised an eyebrow at the bizarre title.

"Legendary...Sucker?" She asked in confusion. Was this woman so bad at gambler that she got her own title as result? The Sol Princess simply sighed and shook her head. "I know you're here. Come out of hiding."

…

…

...

"So you were able to sense us. That's not bad kid." A feminine voice spoke up.

Blaze gained a stoically expression. "Who are you-!?" She turns to the person who appeared behind her before she did a large spit take in shock.

There stood a fair-skinned slender woman of curvaceous frame with above-average height and noticeably large breasts. She has brown eyes and straight blonde hair that parts above her forehead. Her hair has shoulder-length bangs that frame her face and the rest reaches her lower-back.

She wore a grass-green haori. Underneath she wears a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants. Her blouse is closed quite low, revealing her sizeable cleavage. She wears open-toed, strappy black sandals with high heels. She has red nail polish on both her fingernails and toenails and uses a soft pink lipstick. She wore a necklace.

In Blaze's eyes, this woman was definitely beautiful, but she didn't care about that. No, she cared about the very large breasts this woman has, which the Princess become very jealous and angry as she hugged her own chest.

She watched as everytime the woman moved, her breasts would jiggle making her glare at them in slight envy.

"You know kid…" The woman's voice snapped Blaze out of her thoughts, getting her attention. "Only few people can sense someone like me. And I'm considered a pro at hiding my signature. So either I'm getting rusty or you're just that good."

"It's the latter." Blaze said in a stoic tone. She stood up and turns around to face the woman trying her hardest not to stare at the woman's chest in jealousy. "Now, who are you?"

The woman blinked in surprise. "You...never heard of me?"

"Am I suppose to?"

"...Good point." The woman shrugged uncaring.

"**Lady Tsunade**! There you are!"

Blaze and the woman, Tsunade, looked to the left and saw another woman land in front of them.

She is fair-skinned of average height and slender build with onyx eyes and jet-black hair; her hair is straight and shoulder-length with bangs that cover her ears and frame her face. She wears a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open-toed sandals with low heels.

In her arms she held a pig. It is of a light pinkish colour, much like any other ordinary pig. It's cheeks blush in a darker shade of the same tint as her skin. She is wearing a pearl collar and a dark red jacket.

"Oh hey **Shizune**, **Tonton**." Tsunade said.

"Don't just say 'Hey'!" Shizune cried out comically before she shut her mouth with her hand. She looks down and saw no one was paying attention and the men weren't in the area. She turns to her master. "We've been looking everywhere for you Lady Tsunade! I can't believe you left us again!"

"Oink!" Tonton agreed.

"Oh relax, you two. We got out of there fine didn't we?" Tsunade asked, waving her hand up and down.

"Are you kidding me?! After you ran away, they chased us all through town! We had to hide in someone's bathroom!" Shizune exclaimed comically as she stomped her foot, with Tonton nodding in agreement.

Blaze watched the interaction between the two, three if you count the pig, with a small sweat drop running down her head. Is that Tsunade woman really the one those men were looking for? Just who exactly were they?

Shizune was about to go off again until she noticed Blaze staring at the two with a stoic expression. "Oh? Who's this?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to know until you showed up and interrupted her." Tsunade said, which made Shizune sputter comically. She turns and smiles slightly. "Anyway, name's Tsunade kid. The woman over there is my apprentice Shizune and the little pig is Tonton."

"H-Hello nice to meet you." Shizune said as he rubbed her head sheepishly. "And sorry about what you witnessed just now."

"Oink oink!" Tonton greeted.

"Well? Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Tsunade asked.

"My name is Blaze." The Fire Princess replied.

"Blaze? That's a pretty unique name." Shizune commented.

"I'll say. Thanks for not ratting me out Blaze, guess I owe ya." Tsunade thanked her.

"Don't worry about it." Blaze said.

"Excuse me for asking, but are you new around here Blaze?" Shizune asked curiously. "You look like a foreigner."

It was true. Blaze gave off this feeling that she wasn't from around here or in any other Lands in the Shinobi World. It was also her appearance that told her that she was foreigner as she never seen clothes or footwear like that.

"You could say that." Blaze admitted. She doesn't know why but something in her heart told her to trust these women. "Right now, I'm trying to find this village in the Land of Fire."

That caught the two women's attention. Blaze noted that Tsunade had a cold look on her face as she turns away slightly while Shizune looked surprised.

"A village? You must mean the Hidden Leaf Village, right?" Blaze nodded. "Why you going there?"

"..." Blaze was silent as she looked to the side slightly, which got their attention more on her more.

"Oink?"

"Blaze?"

"There's someone in the village…" Blaze said as her cheeks turned red slightly. "Who I want to see again."

"...Oh ho!" Tsunade laughed a little. "I see. You're boyfriend is there right now, huh?"

Blaze did another spit take as she turns to Tsunade. "NO! He is not my boyfriend! He's just...I-I mean…" She turns away and played with her hair.

Seeing the cute reaction made Tsunade and Shizune laugh at her. Blaze turns around and glares at them in annoyance, her face still heated.

"Shouldn't you still be hiding? Those men are still after you." She told them.

"Meh, I wouldn't worry about them." Tsunade said back. "Even if they did try to catch me, they'll just be sent to the hospital."

Blaze raised a brow at that. But then she sighed and shook her head. She didn't have time to deal with this. "If you say so. I wish you three the best of luck then."

"Whoa! Whoa! Hold on a sec!" Tsunade exclaimed. "You leaving already?"

"Yes. It's been so long since I've seen him and...I miss him dearly. It's very important to me that I see him again." The Princess said which surprised Tsunade and Shizune at the sincere tone in her voice.

"You must really care about him." Shizune said.

Blaze nods and a small smile forms on her face as she thought about the young Naruto smiling happily at her.

"Hmph!" Tsunade smirks. "Alright then kid, as thanks for not ratting, I have decided to show you the right way to the Leaf Village."

"Really?" Blaze and Shizune asked at the same time.

"Of course!" Tsunade said happily. "After all, it's important for a young maiden to meet her one true love."

"He's not my-!"

"Aha! There you are!"

The three females and pig looks down from the roof and saw one of the men glaring at Tsunade comically. He looks down.

"Hey guys! I found her! She's up here!" The moment he said those words, the group of men appeared and surrounded them, though this time, there were more of them.

Blaze and Tsunade remained unfazed by this but Shizune and Tonton looked comically scared and nervous.

"Oh no! We've been caught!" Shizune called out.

"Alright Miss Legendary Sucker! You have a debt to pay!" The Leader of the group said.

"Hey hey guys. Let's all just calm down before things get outta a hand." Tsunade said in a carefree tone.

A large vein appeared over the Leader's head. "Things already got outta hand when you tricked us with that fake money you had on you!"

"Oh that? That's all just in the past, can't you just let it go?"

"It happened 15 minutes ago!" The group of men yelled comically with large heads, blowing the woman's hair back.

"Um, Blaze?" Shizune whispered in Blaze's ear, getting her attention. "We better step back."

Blaze didn't comment but listened to her regardless.

"Enough of this crap! Teach her a lesson boys!" The Leader ordered as they surrounded Tsunade. He grinned in a comical evil manner as he cracked his knuckles. "NOW! GET THAT HAG!"

Shizune and Tonton paled in fear at what the Leader said. "Oh no…" She turns to Tsunade and sweated when she saw her head down. She grabbed Blaze's hand, using her free hand while she still held onto Tonton. "RUN AWAY!"

"Wha…?" Before Blaze could ask, Shizune instantly ran away while still holding onto her.

The men gave battle cries as they charged at Tsunade, who remained where she was. She looked up as veins were pulsing all over her face.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

Hearing the loud explosion made Blaze turn back in shock. Her jaw instantly dropped in a comical manner as she saw the building they were on was completely destroyed. She heard the cries of the men falling from the sky and noted that they landed in the lake not too far from the town.

"Oh why? Oh why? Oh why? Oh why did they have to call her the H word?!" Shizune cried out in complete fear, still running and holding onto Blaze, ignoring the comical looks on the townspeople's faces. "Anyone who calls her that will suffer her wrath!"

"Oink!" Tonton cried out in agreement.

Blaze still looked at the destroyed building in complete shock. Did that woman Tsunade actually do that?! She couldn't believe such raw power the woman had in her person.

"_Wait...Tsunade introduced Shizune as her apprentice."_ Blaze thought as she remembered their introduction. _"Does that mean...these two are shinobi?"_

If that's true then Tsunade must be a very powerful shinobi with such incredible power. Yet she's here in this town gambling and running off on her debts.

"_...It would be best if I keep my money out of her sight."_ Blaze deadpans. She hoped this will be a short journey with these two women...along with the pig.

* * *

**Angel Island: Lava Reef Zone**

**Music: Boss Theme (Sonic & Knuckles)**

"Let's see you try and avoid me now Naruto!" Dr. Nega laughed evilly, watching as Naruto and Tails were jumping on rocks to them from falling into the lava.

"This is a dirty trick Nega!" Naruto exclaimed.

Naruto and Tails were facing against Dr. Nega's **Hot Mobile**. They were avoiding the Hot Mobile and keep themselves from falling into the lava.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed as Dr. Nega laughed again, vanishing into the lava. "At the rate this is going, we're gonna be here all day!" He glares comically at the small spiky balls in the lava. "And those landmines Nega keeps on launching at us is doing little damage to him!"

"What do we do?" Tails asked.

Naruto could sense Nega was getting ready to come out again on the other side. He looks at the landmines and an idea forms in his head. Using his ESP, he gathered up the landmines together and held them above his head.

"Gotta time this just right." He muttered to himself. He saw a ripple in the lava. "Wait for it…"

"Here I-!"

"**Chaos Control!"** All of time stopped when those words were said. Naruto could see the Hot Mobile out in the open. Naruto grins as he sent the mines at the exposed Mobile. He snaps his finger as time returns to normal.

And a large explosion erupted from the Hot Mobile as the landmines exploded on it.

"This isn't the end!" Dr. Nega exclaimed as the Hot Mobile sunk into the lava.

**Music End**

The duo watched as the lava suddenly began to cool down and get hardened.

"Huh. That's weird." Tails commented.

"You know what's not weird? Me kicking Knuckles' moronic ass for that earlier stunt." Naruto said flatly.

***Flashback***

**Music: Lava Reef Zone (Act 2) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

"What the hell is up with this underground cavern?!" Naruto asked in comical anger. "When is this going to end?!"

As the duo traveled through the **Lava Reef**, by falling from the Sandopolis, they've been traveling non-stop throughout the boiling hot network of mines, trying to escape it before they die because of the heat. While doing so, they came across a pair of bullet shooting tentacles, which they immediately destroyed and a giant metal hand near the end of the mine. At first, they were confused about the hand and wondered what it was even doing here.

After the lava cooled down and hardened, they continued onwards and were now in a massive crystal cavern filled with dangerous obstacles.

...only to end up getting lost.

Right now, the duo were resting on a platform. Naruto sighs tiredly as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

"Yeah!" Tails agreed as he used his twintails to fan himself. He sighs tiredly as well. They've been traveling in this cavern for a while now and it's like getting lost in a maze. He lied down and looks up a dazed look on his face. "And we're still not close enough to find the Death Egg."

"Hm." Naruto nods, lying down as well, looking up at the cavern. "I wonder where that thing could...have...landed…?" Something caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes in confusion as he saw a...a face? He sat up, his eyes still on the face. "Say Tails?"

"Hm?" Tails hums, signaling he heard him.

"Am I going crazy? Or do I see a face sticking out from above the cavern?" Naruto asked, making sure he wasn't the only one to see the face.

Tails blinked in confusion before he sits up and looks around. "What face?"

Naruto grabbed Tails by his head and made him turn to where he was facing. Tails narrowed his eyes as he got a closer look. "That _is_ a face!" His eyes widened for a split second before he turns to his older brother figure. "Say...didn't the Death Egg _land _on top of a volcano?"

That made Naruto's eyes to slowly widen in shock. He looks at the face and narrowed his eyes closer to look at the face. Now that he saw it looked an awful _lot_ like Dr. Nega.

"YES! We found it!" Naruto cheered as he jumped in joy. "We actually found the Death Egg!"

"YAY!" Tails jumped in joy.

"Follow that Death Egg!"

So, with newfound energy in their system, the duo traveled to where the Death Egg was at. They could see they were getting closer and closer to it as they jumped off the grumbling platforms. Yes! They were almost there! Just a little closer! They jumped on the steps before they saw a large boulder in their path.

"You guys aren't going any further than that!" A voice said behind the boulder.

"Knuckles-WAHHH!?" Naruto screams as the boulder fell off the steps and he got caught in it.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Tails jumped in comical shock as he turns and ran away...only to get caught by the boulder as well.

The boulder rolled for a couple of seconds before it dropped due to a crumbling platform.

***Flashback End***

After that event, the Death Egg activated itself and it got extremely hot in the area they were at. Then Dr. Nega showed up and launched missiles at them, destroying the platforms they were on and that's how they got into the situation they were in with the Hot Mobile.

"Alright, let's get outta of here and beat the shit outta of Knuckles." Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles, cominal veins popping out of his face, the more he kept thinking about the boulder. "Something's telling me he's up ahead."

"Right!"

The duo ran across the cool hardened lava and onto the next area. They now found themselves in secret chamber.

"Wow...where are we now?" Tails asked

"It's like we're in some...**Hidden Palace**." Naruto said.

**Music: Hidden Palace Zone [Sonic & Knuckles]**

"It's funny. It feels like we've been here before." Tails said, looking around the chamber.

"I think we have been here before." Naruto stated. "Let's take a closer look."

"Okay." Tails nodded.

They sped forwards across the Zone. So far, they haven't seen any Badniks, meaning that this was definitely a hidden chamber that not even Dr. Nega knows about. They only dangerous hazards were the spikes.

Naruto suddenly stopped as he sensed something nearby. Tails seeing this stopped as well and looked at Naruto, seeing him staring up at something.

"What are you looking at?" Tails asked, looking at something. "Do you see something?"

"I think so…" Naruto said as he got covered in a cyan aura. "Stay here real quick, I'll be right back." He flew upwards, leaving Tails behind, who only looked confused.

Once he made it, he saw there was higher level in this zone...and there was something there. It was glowing white ball of light being surrounded by...a rainbow aura.

"No way…" Naruto whispered as he looked at the Light Speed Shoes before looking back at the ball of light. He instantly flew towards it and landed in front of it. He walks past the rainbow aura as it erupted and the ball of light entered Naruto's being as faint sparkles are seen around him.

He suddenly had a vision of Sonic and Shadow finding these lights as well and once they absorbed them, they attacked their enemies so fast, he couldn't see them.

"_This is the __**Ancient Light**__. With this power, you'll be able to perform the __**Light Speed Attack**__." _

Naruto looks at his body. He could feel the power of this Ancient Light flowing through him. "Awesome!" He jumps off the higher level and dived down to Tails, landing in front of him which also startled him. "I'm back!"

"I'll say. What were you doing up there?" Tails asked curiously, which made Naruto chuckle.

"I'll tell ya later." Naruto said.

"Aw, now I really wanna know." Tails pouted.

"Again, I'll tell ya later." Naruto repeated, walking in front of Tails.

They entered a room with the only thing was a big, glowing, crimson marble orb, with a small ring-shaped structure around it.

"What's this thing?" Naruto asked curiously, touching the orb.

"It must do something if it's the only thing in this world." Tails said. He jumps on the orb to sit on it, but by doing so the orb began to emit a pillar of light that made the young fox boy disappear.

"TAILS!?" Naruto yelled in surprise. The weird glowing orb thing just teleported his buddy somewhere else! "Hang on buddy, I'm coming!" He jumps on the pillar and he found himself going upwards and into another area. He steps off the orb and looks around for him. "Tails! Where are you?"

"I'm here!"

Naruto turns to Tails and saw him looking up at something. He walks up to Tails and turns to what he was looking at, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.

"What?! Oh no!" The Death Egg is beginning to fly out of the volcano.

"The Death Egg is starting to fly off! We gotta hurry!" Tails said in a rush.

"Right! Let's go!"

Naruto and Tails followed the path to where the Death Egg was at. As they did, they entered a room and noticed a mural on the wall. The mural depicted of a giant man with a mustache and large arms, holding the Master Emerald, while the other showed a blue hedgehog surrounded by a yellow aura.

"_Is that...Sonic?"_

"Naruto!"

"Wha-?" Naruto got punched back, making him let go of Tails. "Again!?" He glares at ahead and saw Knuckles glaring at the two as he bumps his fists together.

"Since Eggman hasn't taken care of you clowns yet, and seeing how you haven't left, it looks like I'm gonna have to care of you thieves myself." Knuckles said.

"Okay, you know what? I've had it!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up. "We aren't the bad guys here! Eggman has been using you the whole entire time, to distract you so that he can take the Master Emerald from under your nose!"

"Like I would listen to the words of a ninja!" Knuckles shot back, making Naruto look surprise. "Yeah, I know who you are Mr. 'Future Hokage of the Village Leaves' or whatever it's called. It's obvious you're here to take the Master Emerald for your village! What does Hokage even mean?"

"Oh for the love of-no you know what? I'm not even gonna explain it to you!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm just gonna do what I should've done since you punched me!"

"And what's that?" Knuckles asked. He got his answer when Naruto spin dashed into his stomach, knocking him back.

"That!"

**Battle Music: Knuckles' Theme [Sonic & Knuckles]**

"Oh...it's on!" Knuckles roared as he charged at Naruto, who charged in as well and roared.

"Bring it on Chuckles!"

Their fists clashed with each other before Naruto went in for a roundhouse kick. Knuckles dodged the kick and went in for the punch but Naruto back away. The red haired youth wasn't finished yet as he sent a bunch of fast jabs at Naruto, who continued to back away from him.

Naruto jumps backwards to avoid another fast jab. He then flips and does an axe kick to Knuckles, who caught it and grabbed Naruto to spin him around. He then threw him against the wall but he flips and got covered by a cyan aura.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Six clones of Naruto appeared and surrounded Knuckles, who could only gape in comical shock.

"What the hell?!" Knuckles yelled. Since when can ninjas make clones of themselves?! Eggman never told him about this!

"Get him!" The real Naruto ordered as the clones gave battle cries and charged at the shell shocked Knuckles, who immediately snapped out of it.

Knuckles punched a Naruto in the face, only for it to disappear in a cloud of smoke._ "A fake!"_ So that's it. While the clone felt real, it could only take one hit and it'll disappear.

A Naruto clone attempts to punch Knuckles across the face, only for him to dodge it, only to get hit by another clone's Homing Attack as he got pushed back.

The rest of the clones attempts to attack Knuckles by dog piling him. The guardian however grins as he punched the ground, sending a shockwave that blew the clones away and made them disappear.

However, after punching the last clone, the real Naruto appeared within the smoke and punched Knuckles across the face before kicking him away.

"That all you got Chuckles?!" Naruto asked, running after him.

"I'm just getting started Fishcakes!" Knuckles roared, charging at Naruto.

"Stop calling me Fishcakes bastard!" Naruto punched Knuckles' stomach.

"Then stop calling me Chuckles asshole!" Knuckles gave a right hook to Naruto's face.

"Moron!"

"Idiot!"

"Jackass!"

"Loser!"

Nearby Tails watched the two fight with a sweat drop running down his face. What turned into a serious fight earlier suddenly turned comical as the two were in a cloud of dirt and calling each other names, they were also rolling around on the ground.

The two suddenly did a spin dash at each other and got knocked back. Naruto then grabbed Knuckles using his ESP and threw him into a pillar.

"Um…"

Naruto and Knuckles suddenly gave out battle cries as they charged at each other, their fists pulled back. Once they were close enough, they punched each other at the same time on their cheeks, making them fly back away from each other.

Naruto stood up from his spot and glared at Knuckles, who stood up as well and glared right back.

Before they could say or do anything however, an explosion shook the room they were in.

"Whoa! What's going on?!" Tails asked.

"I don't know!" Naruto said.

**Music: Boss Theme [Sonic & Knuckles]**

An alarmed look came on Knuckles' face. "No! The Master Emerald!" He ran past Naruto and left them in the room.

"Come on!" Naruto told Tails as he followed Knuckles, with his best friend following after him.

Knuckles ran into the entrance of the shrine and skids to a stop as a shocked look appeared on his face.

"EGGMAN?! What do you think you're doing?!"

Naruto and Tails entered soon after and saw both the Super Emeralds and Master Emerald. They looked up and saw Dr. Nega in his Egg Mobile holding the Master Emerald.

"I'm here to claim my prize of course!" Dr. Nega said happily. "And I couldn't have done without _you_ distracting those two brats from me! So thank you very much, you gullible fool!"

Knuckles was now beyond angry. So those two _were_ telling the truth after all! Nega was only using him so that he keep them busy while he went after his Master Emerald! And he fell right into that bastard's slimy little hands!

"PUT THAT BACK NOW!" Knuckles roared out as he grabs hold of the Master Emerald.

"Bah! I don't have time for this!" Dr. Nega pushed a button and two mechanical lines came out. They went towards Knuckles and they electrocuted him.

"Knuckles!" Naruto and Tails called out as the Guardian fell off the Master Emerald. They ran towards him, not paying to the fact that Eggman launched two mini missiles at them.

"So long boys!"

**Music End**

The missiles hit the floor beneath them, making a hole large enough for three of them to fall into at same time. before they landed on the floor.

Naruto stood up and shook his head, glaring upwards. "Damn it! He got the Master Emerald!"

Tails looks up worriedly "Oh man. With its power, Eggman will be able to launch the Death Egg!"

"And without the Master Emerald, this whole island will stay down to the service and won't be able to fly." Knuckles added in, punching the ground in frustration. "Shit! I can't believe I got myself tricked like that! I...I should've listened to you guys…and because of me..." He bowed his head in shame. "The Master Emerald is…"

Naruto and Tails looked at Knuckles sadly. They honestly couldn't blame him. After all, from what they've been hearing, Knuckles takes his job as a guardian very seriously and will do whatever it takes to protect the Master Emerald. And from the looks of it, this looks like it's the first time since the Master Emerald was taken under his watch.

"So that's it? You gonna give up? Just like that?" Naruto asked, bringing attention to himself. "Eggman may have the Master Emerald now, but that doesn't mean he's won. We're going to get back that emerald and stop him from taking over our planet!"

Naruto walks up to the kneeling Knuckles and held his hand towards him, making him look up at him in confusion.

"But we can't do it without your help. So are you gonna stay here and wallow in self pity for failing, or are you gonna fight and take back your emerald?"

Knuckles stares at the offered hand then to Naruto. He closed his eyes and smirks to himself. The ninja's right. He can't just stay here because he failed his duty. He's the guardian of the Master Emerald! His job is to protect the Master Emerald at all costs, no matter what. And that's exactly what he's planning to do!

"I think the answer is obvious." Knuckles opens his eyes and grabs the offered hand, making Naruto grin at him as he helped pull him up.

"So how do we get out of here?" Tails asked.

Knuckles walks up to a wall and looks over his shoulder at them. "Follow me." He punched the wall to make a large hole and enters the room with Naruto and Tails following him.

They watched as Knuckles jumps into another one of those glowing orbs and got sent upwards. Naruto jumps in a second later with Tails jumping in after them.

* * *

**?**

The trio appeared out of the orb and landed on the ground. Naruto and Tails looked around in amazement.

"Awesome! Where is _this_ place?" Tails asked in awe.

"We're...in **Sky Sanctuary**." Knuckles said in exhaustion.

**Music: Sky Sanctuary [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Naruto and Tails stared off into the great Sky Sanctuary. There were a whole collection of ancient ruins surrounding the sky and somehow they were floating.

"Cool~" Naruto said. "This place seems more like a Sky Palace, but yeah, Sanctuary sounds better. Hm?" He heard something loud and was coming from nearby. He and the others turns to the sound and saw something moving in the clouds. His eyes widened when he saw what it was.

"It's the Death Egg!" Tails exclaimed. Seeing it rise up from the clouds was not a good sign, even more so when they saw red dots flying out of it and heading towards them. "We have to hurry before it gets further to the edge of space, otherwise we won't make it!"

"Hang on!" Knuckles ran ahead and jumped across a large gap. He steps on a switch, which made a bridge appear.

Naruto and Tails crossed the bridge and ran past the exhausted Knuckles, which made them stop and turn to him.

"What are you doing? Come on Knuckles!" Naruto said.

"Don't worry about me! Just hurry up and stop Eggman!" Knuckles told them. "Now go before it's too late!"

Naruto stared at Knuckles for a moment before he nodded his head and ran forward, with Tails following, though he looked back at Knuckles.

"Do you think he's alright?" Tails asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. He can take care of himself." Naruto said, a smirk very similar to Sonic's appearing on his face. "He is Knuckles after all."

Tails wasn't sure if it was the sun or not, but he could've sworn he saw a blue hedgehog overlapping Naruto. The blue hedgehog looked back at him and gave him a thumbs up and wink.

"Now let's take care of Eggman once and for all." Naruto and the blue hedgehog said at the same time. That made the fox boy blink his eyes and shake his head, seeing the hedgehog was gone and only Naruto remained. "R-Right!"

Weird. Very weird indeed.

And so, the duo traveled far into the Sanctuary. As they did they encountered large bounceable clouds, which made Tails laugh a little when he saw Naruto was startled by them. They ran into a new type of Badniks called **Eggrobos**, as they saw one chasing some Animals before they destroyed it.

They seem to be the only type of Badnik in the Sanctuary, which honestly made sense because they came from the Death Egg.

It was actually difficult as the duo had to jump from platform to platform while at the same making sure not to fall off the ruins. It also didn't help with that some of the ruins were also getting destroyed in the process. They climb further and further to the Zone as they destroyed many Eggrobos that got in their way.

They continued on before seeing the Death Egg in all its glory.

"Look! It's the Death Egg! We're almost there!" Tails said happily. He looks ahead and his smile grew. "And another one of those teleportation orbs!"

"Sweet! Time to end this Eggman!" Naruto grins as he and Tails went to the orb only to skid to a stop as they saw ball coming in and destory the orb. "What the hell!?"

Naruto looks up at the ball wore deadpan expression as he stared at a..._checkered_ ball. "You gotta be kidding me." He looks up and saw **Egg Mobile H** floating there, he couldn't see who it was because of the sun's light reflecting off of the glass. "Seriously Nega? Didn't you use this thing in our first battle back on South Island?"

Egg Mobile H suddenly swing it's ball at them, but together using a spin attack, they knocked the Egg Mobile H back and destroyed the chain that held the ball making it fall off of the Sanctuary.

"That all you got?" Naruto asked as he and Tails took a fighting stance. Instead of answering, seven ball pods came out and circling around the Egg Mobile.

"Those things again?" Tails asked.

"Looks like Egghead forgot what happened last time he fought using those things." Naruto said as he and Tails grins at each other. "Let's help _remind_ him."

They charged at the **Flying Eggman** as it charged to them as well. Tails destroyed the seven ball pods, while Naruto did a mid air spin dash, sending it crashing to the ground, making it explode.

"Eggman!" Naruto called out in shock. He honestly expected Eggman to get out of there before it was...too...late? "What?" He asked in confusion as something metallic step out of the destroyed Egg Mobile.

The heroes' eyes widen in shock at what stood before them. "...Metal Naruto?" Naruto asked with his brows furrowed.

Now getting a closer look, this robot wasn't Metal Naruto. In fact, it looked like a fusion between Robo Naruto and Metal Naruto, being closer to the former in size but more like the latter in terms of appearance, such as longer legs and arms, along with the spiky quills of his hair."

"Nope. That is _so_ not Metal." Naruto said.

Tails backed up slightly, looking little fearful at this robotic Naruto. "This guy look a little tough, don'tcha think Naruto?"

Naruto scoffed. "Heh! Are you kidding? He doesn't look all that…" He and Tails quickly jumped out of the way as the new robot Naruto did a spin dash at them and took a stance. "Tough…"

The robot Naruto then dashed backwards towards them, making the heroes move out of the way again. Naruto took this chance and used the Homing Attack, knocking the new Metal Naruto back slightly but it hardly did anything.

"Sheesh! This guy looks like Robo Naruto but with Metal's abilities. I wonder what I should call this one?" Naruto looked thoughtful but then rolled out of the way when the new look alike turned into a Spin Ball and bounced all over the place.

"Is now really the best time to be asking that?!" Tails asked frantically as he flew away from the spinning buzzsaw of death.

"Of course! Since this guy is different from the other two robot me, we have to call him something to differentiate between them." Naruto said before he jumps to avoid the spin dash of death from his evil counterpart. "I got it! Let's call him **Mecha Naruto**!"

"Great! Now do something about Mecha Naruto!" Tails exclaimed. He turns to the Death Egg, seeing it continue to fly up. "The Death Egg is starting to get away!"

"Right!" Naruto dodged Mecha Naruto while crossing his fingers.** "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Multiple Naruto clones surrounded Mecha Naruto. The clones charged at the Badnik as it remained where it was. Once they got close enough, Mecha Naruto did a spin attack as it bounced and spun around the clones, destroying them in the process.

Just as it got out of its spin attack, while in mid-air, Mecha Naruto got hit by multiple pillars that sent it flying off the island, taking the pillars with it. Tails looked surprise before he saw Naruto fly down and landed next to him. He also looked disappointed.

"Man...that was way past too easy." Naruto sighed in a slight disappointment before he shrugs. "Ah well. Come on Tails!"

"Ok!"

Naruto and Tails ran to the tallest tower that was close to the Death Egg. They ran up the corkscrew ramp before noticing that the ramp was crumbling beneath them', making Tails fly next to Naruto instead of being behind him. Once they made it to the top, they leap off the tower and went on board the Death Egg.

"Yes! We made it!" Tails cheered.

"We getting close to the edge of space. Let's hurry up inside." Naruto told Tails as they both nodded and went to find a way inside the Death Egg. _"Why do I get the strangest feeling that we're gonna get lost in there?"_

* * *

**Land of Fire**

**With Blaze and Co.**

Right now, Blaze and her companions were walking down the road, with Tsunade taking the lead of course. It's been an hour or two since they left town. As they traveled together, Shizune began to hold a conversation with Blaze, wanting to know more about her while Blaze herself only answered in short sentences.

The Princess of the Sol Kingdom had to admit, these two women were nice traveling companions despite the two's constant arguing about Tsunade's gambling problem and her increase in debt. She found herself having a nice chat with Shizune with Tsunade throwing her two cents in during the conversation.

But there were times when Blaze would twitch in annoyance as she watched Tsunade's breasts keep bouncing every time she either walks or cross her arms underneath them. Whenever that happens, she would always put her hands to where her chest was. Like honestly!

"_What on earth did she eat to get a chest that big?!"_ Blaze asked herself in anger and jealousy.

Shizune herself was quite curious about Blaze. It's not everyday that a foreigner would come to the Shinobi Nations. It also made her all the more curious to know where she came from and what's it like. So she asked her some stuff and was surprised to learn that her home is in fact another continent much like the Shinobi Nations and that continent has a kingdom ruled by a royal family.

But what made this continent special was that it had no shinobi. At all!

This world is suppose to be filled with shinobi. After all, there are islands around the Shinobi Nations that have their own shinobi as well. To hear that there is a continent out there that doesn't have shinobi made Shizune want to go there someday and learn more about it.

Plus, from what Blaze told her, there are also smaller islands around the continent that weren't even on their map!

Tsunade herself had been listening on the conversation the two were having about Blaze's home. She won't lie, she's now curious as well. To learn that there's a continent without shinobi makes her want to go out and find it. She wonders if the place has any decent gambling places. She also wanted to know what their currency is...after all this is an unknown continent so of course they should have their own currency right?

Not only that, there's also something..._different_ about Blaze. It's not just because she's a foreigner, it's just she feels different from ordinary people. People who have _and_ use chakra.

"Hey! We're here!" Shizune's voice called out interrupting Tsunade from her thoughts.

They were now standing in a cross road split into two paths. They looked back and forth between the left path and the right path.

"Well...it looks like this is it." Shizune said, a little sadly. "The way to the Leaf Village is to the left. Though it might take a couple more days for you to get there."

"Oink…" Tonton said sadly.

"Where will you three be going?" Blaze asked curiously.

"To wherever the wind takes us of course!" Tsunade said happily.

"Of course…" Blaze sighed and shook her head, not knowing she wore a small smile on her face. "Well, it's been pleasure to meet you, Tsunade, Shizune and Tonton. May you have a safe travel." That made the two women and pig smile at Blaze and nod their heads.

"Same to you kid." Tsunade said, placing a hand on her hip as comical teasing look appeared on her face. "Good luck in finding your boyfriend~"

"We'll be rooting for you!" Shizune giggled at the massive blush on Blaze's face.

"Oink! Oink!" Tonton added in happily.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Blaze yelled in embarrassment as she stomps her foot down and turned away, arms crossed and a cute pout on her face. "Goodbye!"

Fire erupted from Blaze's feet, shocking Shizune and Tonton while Tsunade looked surprised and interested. They watched as Blaze took off very fast, leaving behind a trail of fire.

Shizune and Tonton's jaw dropped at the display of power and speed as they stared at the trailer of fire. "W-W-W-What just happened?!"

"Oink! Oink!"

Tsunade placed a hand under her chin as she looked towards the trail of fire. It looks like their new friend is more than just a foreigner. She has a power based on fire. _"Blaze, huh?"_ She smirks in amusement. So that's why her parents gave her that unique name. "I have a funny feeling we'll be seeing that kid again real soon."

"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked.

"It's nothing." Tsunade said as she walks forward to their path. She also wants to meet the person who won Blaze's heart and wondered what the guy was doing right now.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**The Death Egg**

**Music: Death Egg Zone (Act 2) [Sonic & Knuckles]**

"Achoo!" Naruto sneezed.

"Bless you." Tails chirps.

"Thanks." Naruto said as he looks up thoughtfully. _"I wonder who was talking about me?"_

Naruto and Tails were now running across a platform as with the Earth seen in the background. Earlier they were traveling inside the Death Egg, going past the dangerous obstacles and traps that were in their way. And by dangerous I mean they had to go through rocket launchers, antigravity chambers, electrical hazards, ring shooters, and some very mean Badniks.

After defeating the sub-boss **Red Eye**, the duo were now running outside the Death Egg, where they could see their planet.

"Get ready Tails! We're getting close to Dr. Nega!" Naruto told him.

"You got it!" Tails exclaimed.

Naruto and Tails had determined expressions on their faces as they ran faster and faster, going past the Badniks that charged at them, destroying them in the process and releasing the Animals.

They saw a high speed elevator in front of them. They entered the elevator and found themselves moving at top speed. They got out of the elevator and walk out only to see a Badnik floating above them, which made them scream in surprise.

It looked like a miniaturized Death Egg only it was the shape of a floating ball that has eyes and a bumper around them.

"Hahaha!" Dr. Nega's voice laughed out loud, making the duo look back to see him behind the elevator. "Welcome to the new and improved Death Egg boys! I've been waiting for you both to show up, especially since I knew my Mecha Naruto wouldn't be able to stop you! Even though I had hoped he did." He deadpans at the end.

"_Huh. So his name was really Mecha Naruto."_ Naruto and Tails thought as they glanced at each other.

"Ah well! Like they always say, "If you want something done right, you do it yourself."! Have fun with my **Death Ball**!" Dr. Nega said.

The duo looks up to the Death Ball as they heard something drop. They saw a small buggy-like object that has three spikes attached to it and was heading towards them. They watched as the buggy moved towards them while the Death Ball was above them moving side to side while it had its bumper aimed at them to protect them.

Naruto had a look of boredom on his face as though he wasn't at all worried about the Badnik while Tails looked a little nervous. "...May I finish this quickly?" He asked Tails as he crossed his arms while also tapping his foot.

"Be my guest." Tails bowed.

Naruto gains a feral grin. **"Chaos Control!"**

As Naruto teleports away, Tails crossed his arms and smirks as the Death Ball had multiple dents and scorch marks appear before it crashed on the floor. Naruto teleports back next to Tails and clapped his hands as the Death Ball exploded.

The explosion resulted in the elevator that they came out of to explode, revealing Dr. Nega, who had a dumbfounded expression on his face. He sweated when Tails glared at him while Naruto had a cheeky grin on his face as he wagged his finger back and forth at him.

"Um...RUN AWAY!" Dr. Nega gave up as he ran off.

"No you don't!"

Naruto and Tails quickly chased after him. Eventually, as they went further outside, getting closer to the escaping scientist, Dr. Nega quickly jumped into a hatchway that closed behind him, making the duo stop.

"What the?" They heard something collapsing behind them and looks back to the ground was grumbling away. They quickly ran to the more stable ground on the right.

"Dude what was that?" Tails asked. "That big...thing?"

"Looks like the final boss!" Naruto exclaimed.

They heard something coming from behind them, making them go stiff, as they turns around to see whatever it was behind them and what they saw made their eyes go wide in shock and disbelief.

**Battle Music: Final Boss [Sonic the Hedgehog 3]**

There before them is a _massive_ battle mech. The mech resembles the Death Egg Robot, only this robot is much bigger and it has a closer resemblance to the Eggrobo back in the Sanctuary.

"That's...a pretty big robot." Naruto sweated a little bit while Tails hid behind his leg.

"That's right!" Dr. Nega laughed in excitement. "Say hello _and_ goodbye to the **Great Eggman Robo**!"

Two groups of three massive fingers came out of hiding and were locked on them as they went to where the duo were. Naruto's eyes widened as he grabs Tails and moved out of the fingers way as they crashed down at them. The fingers moved and went to where they were.

"It looks like we'll have to take out those fingers." Tails said.

"Right! You take one group, I'll take the other!" Naruto nodded as he runs forward, getting the left "hand's" attention. "Let's do it to it!"

"You got it!" Tails looked at the right "hand" and saw it was getting ready to hit him. He did a spin charge just as the "hand' slammed into him, only for the middle finger to be destroyed.

Once he was in the middle between both fingers, he did a Spin Dash that ricochet him between the fingers, destroying them both. He turns to Naruto and saw he had ripped the three fingers off the "hand".

"Is that all you got?!" Naruto threw one of the fingers at the Great Eggman Robo's face, making it bounce off of it.

"I'm just getting started!" Dr. Nega exclaimed.

The Great Eggman Robo drops below the platform but then reappeared on the left side of the platform. The mech slowly walks towards them, making the duo run back to avoid getting hit by the flames that shot out from the nose.

"We'll have to find it's weakness!" Tails exclaimed. "What do we do Naruto?"

Naruto looks at the battle mech before he narrowed his eyes at the nose. "The nose! We have to attack the nose!" He runs back to the mech and does a Homing Attack on it. By doing so however, the chest opened up to reveal the Master Emerald in all its glory.

"The Master Emerald!" The duo said at the same time. From the looks of it, the Master Emerald seems to be inside a laser weapon as it seems to be charging. "Uh oh!"

Naruto and Tails jumps up comically as the laser fired, grazing Tails' twintails slightly and burning off Naruto's pants a little bit. Once the laser died down, the duo fell back and continued on just as the chest closed.

"So that's it." Tails said, blowing on his tails slightly as he shook them. "Dr. Eggman must be using the Master Emerald to power that thing."

"Then I guess we better get it out of there." Naruto grins as he and Tails avoided the flamethrower.** "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

Five clones popped out of existence as they grinned at the Great Eggman Robo. "Alright guys! Get ready to attack together!" The real Naruto ordered.

"Right!" The clones and Tails said at the same time as they each did a spin charge.

Naruto grins at them before turning back to the still charging mech as he took out two gold rings. He does a homing attack on the nose again, opening the chest. "Now!"

The clones and Tails did the spin dash together on the exposed chest, landing a devastating attack on the mech as the laser stops charging. Once the clones vanished, Tails flew back as he noticed the glowing golden lights in Naruto's hands.

"Do it Naruto!" The Fox Boy said happily.

"You got it! **Super Chaos Spear!**" Naruto continued to grin as he unleashed a more larger and powerful green colored version of his Chaos Spear. The attacked landed a direct hit at the weapon which resulted in the mech to explode. "Yeah! Bye bye Lame O Robo!"

Naruto and Tails watched as the Great Eggman Robo drops down into deep space, it's explosion still being heard. Not to their surprise, the duo saw the escaped Dr. Nega, in his Egg Mobile which held the Master Emerald on the end of its grabbing device.

"No way! I can't believe this!" Dr. Nega exclaimed in shock.

"Believe it, Doc! Now hand over that Emerald." Naruto demanded.

"I don't think so!" Dr. Nega flies off to the ahead of them, just as the platform began to crumble again.

"Whoa!" The heroes quickly ran after Dr. Nega. Once they got close enough, Naruto did the Shadow Clone Jutsu and three clones appeared. Naruto, Tails and the clones each did a homing attack at Dr. Nega.

"You're finished Nega!" Naruto exclaimed. He jumps in the air and does one last homing attack. The result were expected as the Egg Mobile exploded, making it drop the Master Emerald, while the platform stopped crumbling.

"NOOOO!" Dr. Nega cried out as he flew away.

**Music Ends**

"Yeah! We did it!" Naruto and Tails did a mini victory dance and finished it with back-to-back pose.

Before they could celebrate further, the whole Death Egg went up in a massive explosion, which made them jump in surprise as they looked at the massive space station.

"Oh no!" Tails cried out. "The Great Eggman Robo crashed into the Death Egg's power source and now it's starting to explode!"

"Damn!" Naruto grit his teeth as the explosions kept getting stronger and stronger. He turns to one of his clones...well the only clone that didn't dispel itself. "Get Tails and send him back to the planet! I'm gonna get the Master Emerald!"

"No problem!" Clone Naruto nodded as he grabbed Tails.

"Huh?!" The Tech Wizard asked in surprise. He turns to the real Naruto with widened eyes. "Naruto! No!" He reached his hand to his best friend, who gave him a thumbs up and wink, but then vanished.

"See you later bud!" Naruto told him. He turns to the Master Emerald and picks it up. "As for-WHAT?!" He screamed in comical shock as the explosion rocked the platform. He turns to the Death Egg and his eyes widen as he saw a shockwave heading his way. "Oh...shit..."

Naruto quickly leaps off the platform to try and fly away. Sadly, he still got blown away by the shockwave, which separated him from the Master Emerald. "Waaaaah!" He spun around comically before he used his ESP to stop, only for him to be upside down. He returned to his normal position.

"Well that's just great." The Ultimate Ninja deadpans. Meh, at least he made it away from the Death Egg.

Speaking of...he turns to the now destroyed space station and saw the destroyed pieces of it, floating around it. He smirks at his accomplishment, rubbing his fist across his nose.

"Let's see you make another one of those now Egghead." Naruto said before he face palms. "Aw man! The Master Emerald!" He looks around for it and saw it right ahead of him. He smiles. "There you are." He flies to the Emerald before he heard something behind him. He looks back in confusion before he quickly moved out of the way as something blue went past him and headed towards the Master Emerald in breakneck speed. He already knew who it was.

"Of course, he would be back." Naruto deadpans. He watched as the blue ship went through an asteroid field. A challenging grin appear on his face. "So that's your game huh? Okay. Let's play." He closed his eyes.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Angel Island: Hidden Palace**

A recovering Knuckles sighs as he looked at the empty spot of the Master Emerald. He looks up in the sky, a somewhat worried look on his face.

A couple of minutes passed when he heard the Death Egg's loud explosion and saw it up in space. He'll never say it out loud, but he really hoped those guys were doing okay up there and made it out safely. He also hoped Dr. Nega died inside the Death Egg, if not then he's going to enjoy pounding his face in of he sees him.

Knuckles sighs once again before his shot open. "I feel some strange energy." He turns around and saw a flash of green light, making him cover his eyes. He uncovers them and saw Naruto and Tails. "Huh? You made it out!" He noticed the Master Emerald wasn't there. "Where's the Master Emerald?"

"It's still in space! Naruto went to go get it!" Tails answered as he looks up in the sky with a worried expression, not paying attention to the confused expression on Knuckles' face.

"...what?" The guardian turns to Naruto in confusion.

"I'm a clone dude." The clone replied. He was to dispel himself but stopped himself as he and the others saw something glowing. They turned towards the source of the glowing and saw it was the Super Emeralds as they continued to glow brighter and brighter.

"Hey! What's going on with the Super Emeralds?" Tails asked in confusion and slight surprise. He turns to Knuckles and saw the serious look on his face, along with Clone Naruto.

"It's happening." Knuckles said.

"What's happening?" Tails asked.

"Tails, do you remember when we first collected the Chaos Emeralds and I told you what happened onboard the Death Egg?" Clone Naruto asked instead of answering.

"Yeah. You told me that you transformed into Super Naruto and beat the Death Egg Robot." Tails replied, scratching his cheek. "But what does that have to do with what's happening now?"

"Think about it for a second." Knuckles replied this time, getting both Tails and the Clone's attention. "If seven _Chaos Emeralds_ can cause a super transformation, what do you think happens if someone use seven of the _Super Emeralds_?"

Tails blink but then widened his eyes in surprise before he smiles in excitement. "You mean...Naruto, the real Naruto, is going to transform into his super form?!"

"Transform? Yup. Super? Not so much." Clone Naruto answered, smiling happily.

"Huh?" Tails tilt his head.

"Remember, the Super Emeralds are _enhanced_ forms of the Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles reminded him. "With them, you can achieve a transformation that's _way_ powerful than a regular super form."

"A form that's powerful than Super Naruto?" Tails gasped in awe as his pupils turned into stars. He had no idea that there would be a form that's stronger and more powerful than Super Naruto if someone were to use the Super Emeralds. That's so awesome!

"Yup! So the Boss won't be going Super!" Clone Naruto said as he closed his eyes and got ready to dispel. "No...he's going…"

* * *

Naruto grins as he felt the clone he left Tails with dispel itself which made him snap his eyes open, revealing them to purple. "HYPER!" He gave out a battle yell as a white aura erupted from him, forming into a pillar, which also seems to be flashing in a rainbow like multi-color.

The pillar that covered Naruto then vanished, revealing his new form: **Hyper Naruto!**

His form is quite similar to Super Naruto, but with notable obvious differences. One of which has his hair turned into a silverish blue, almost platinum color, with some added quills to his hair. Once again, the red stripes were gone and the three small tufts were there, just not in the same color as they were back when he was Super. His eyes had gotten sharper and more narrowed, to show that things were getting serious now. He also had a rainbow like aura around his whole body.

Hyper Naruto looks at his hands, seeing the markings were now multi-colored, and clenched it into a fist. An awe look come on his face. Awesome! Is _this_ really the power of the hyper form!? He feels...ULTRA stronger than before when he was Super Naruto.

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome! There's no other words to describe other than just awesome! Everything about this was awesome! Is this what Sonic felt like when he first transformed into his Hyper form? How...awesome!

He looks ahead and could see the blue ship despite how far away it was. He can also sense the Master Emerald inside it. A grin appears on his face.

"Time to party Eggman."

**Battle Music: The Doomsday Zone [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Hyper Naruto instantly took of flying towards the blue ship in super...no...in **hypersonic speed**! As he went through the asteroid field, he avoided every single asteroid that were in his way or he would just destroy them using his fist.

He saw he was getting close to the ship, only for it to fire missiles at him. Hyper Naruto wasn't even worried as he held his hand out used his newly advanced ESP to create a large white shield of energy. He caught the missiles and the asteroids that were in his radius. He then launched them at them at the ship, only to see that they didn't do much damage.

"That thing's heavily armored." Hyper Naruto observed as he got closer to the ship. "But everything has a weakness, including this thing."

While doing so, the ship fired homing missiles at him. He knocked one away, making it hit an asteroid before he flew away from the other two. He looks back at the missiles before charging at the ship, landing on it. He saw the face of the ship turn to him, which made Hyper Naruto grin as he pulled a middle finger out at it. He flies off the ship when he felt the two missiles get close, just as they explode on it.

Hyper Naruto flew in front of the ship, flying backwards with his arms crossed and a smirk present on his face. "And I think I found it."

The ship fired more homing missiles at him, prompting Hyper Naruto to turn and fly normally. He flies around the asteroid field as the missiles chased him around. He used the asteroids as a way to destroy two of them, leaving only four missiles at him. He turns back to the missiles and turns to face the ship, flying directly at it with a grin present on his face.

"Let's see you handle this." Hyper Naruto said, looking back at the missiles one last time. Good. They were getting closer to him. He looks back at the ship and wagged his finger before teleporting away.

The four missiles landed a direct hit on the face, making multiple explosions be heard. The damage done to the ship, caused it to fall down as it caught fire. The ship stayed for a moment before it exploded, which resulted in a purple shockwave erupting from it.

**Music End**

Hyper Naruto looks to where the ship erupted from before he began to look around for the Master Emerald. He closed his eyes and concentrated on sensing the Emerald, only to find it behind him. "Aha!" He turns and saw the Master Emerald floating in space. He flies to the Emerald and floated in front of it. "Okay, time to take you back to Knuckles."

"I don't think so!"

Before he could grab it, a giant robot with a jetpack suddenly appeared from below him, surprising Hyper Naruto slightly. It looked exactly like the Death Egg Robot in design but with a more streamlined appearance and features similar to the EggRobo.

The robot smacked the still surprised Hyper Naruto away, making him land flatly on an asteroid. Hyper Naruto just had a flat expression on his face as he got off the asteroid and glared at the giant robot as it grabbed the Master Emerald.

"I'm not finished yet Naruto!" Dr. Nega declared as the robot turns to him. "All I gotta do is keep you away as you run out of energy! Farewell!" The robot turns around and flies off.

Hyper Naruto took a deep breath and released it into a big sigh. Okay, this is starting to get stupid. But the man doesn't give up, so he can at least respect that about him. Just a _teeny tiny_ bit.

Looking up at the escaping robot, Hyper Naruto saw he left some bombs that were heading his way. He shook his head and grins as he did a spin charge. While he did so, small flashing multicolored balls were gathering up and entering his being, to show he was charging up for a special attack. Once he finished gathering up the energy he needed, he stops spin charging, showing he was surrounded by small balls.

"Ready...GO!"

**Music: Invincibility [Sonic & Knuckles]**

In a flash of white light, Hyper Naruto charged head on the retreating robot, not paying attention to the incredible damage he caused to the asteroid field as multiple asteroids got destroyed by a shockwave that he caused.

He flashed past the homing bombs as they got destroyed which resulted in an explosion that Dr. Nega's attention. He looks behind him and the robot's eyes widened comically as he saw a multicolored torpedo speeding towards him, while also destroying the asteroids that were in its way.

"No! No! Please no!" Dr. Nega pleaded to himself as he tried to fly faster. "I should've won this time! ME! Not that annoying ninja brat!"

Sadly for Dr. Nega, he felt his robot shake before it stopped flying. He looks and saw Hyper Naruto floating in front of him, while holding the Master Emerald in his hand. He was also smirking at him.

"Game over Doc." Hyper Naruto said as he looked down at the giant hole that he went through at the robot. He watched as the robot began fall down.

"IMPOSSIBLE! NOOOOOOOO!" Dr. Nega screamed as the robot began to erupt in small explosions before it blew up entirely.

**Music: Sky Sanctuary Zone [Sonic & Knuckles]**

Hyper Naruto watched on in satisfaction as the robot exploded. He looks up at the Master Emerald before he cheered in excitement.

"Alright! That was AWESOME!" He said happily as he flies down to the planet in hyper speed.

Once he made it to see the clear blue sky, he slow down his flight and was smoothly flying through the air, a giddy grin on his face.

"This. Was. The greatest. Adventure. EVER!" Hyper Naruto shouted happily. "Oh man, now I can't wait to tell the others about this! They are seriously gonna flip!"

"NARUTO! OVER HERE!"

Hyper Naruto smile grew wider as he looks down and saw a happy Tails, still in his human form, flying the Tornado, looking up at him and waving his hand. "Tails!" He flies down to the wing of the Tornado, landing on it while at the same time reverting back to his regular form.

"You did it Naruto! You won!" Tails said happily. "That was so cool on what you did!"

"Of course little buddy!" Naruto grins cockily. "As if old Egghead would be able to beat me!" He tossed the Master Emerald to the back of the Tornado, which was caught by a handle. "Now let's head back to Angel Island. We got a delivery to make!"

"Roger!" Tails said happily.

Seeing said island up ahead, the Tornado headed towards Angel Island full speed. Once they got close enough, Tails piloted the plane down, just above the jungle trees. Naruto meanwhile looked around for any sign of Knuckles and caught the sight of red spiky dreadlocks waiting in a clearing. He used his ESP to get the Master Emerald from the handle.

"HEY! KNUCKLES!" Naruto called out which made the guardian jump in surprise. He looks up and his eyes widen. "Here's your present!" He gave the Master Emerald to Knuckles, which he caught by his hands.

Knuckles examined the Master Emerald and sighed in relief, seeing that it wasn't damaged or anything. He sat the emerald down as the whole island began to float, earning its namesake once again. "Thank goodness."

**Special Ending: Sonic Boom (Ending Version) **

***Instruments***

"Knuckles!" Knuckles looked up and saw Naruto and Tails waving at him. "Let's have a rematch later on! You and me, no holding back at all!"

"Haha! See you later Knuckles! Stay safe okay!" Tails added his two cents in.

"And next time, don't be a jackass!" Naruto added in also.

"Just get off my island, you stupid ninja!" Knuckles yelled comically as he raised a fist at Naruto, not knowing he was waving it. He watched as they flew off, but they still kept waving at him. He snorts at them before he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, a smirk present on his face. "Heh. That guy's one palooka that keeps you running. Still…"

A soft smile appeared on his face. "I have this funny feeling that I haven't seen the last of them." He continued to watch them leave but for a brief moment, he saw a blue hedgehog appear in Naruto's place.

"Huh?" Knuckles blinks in confusion before shaking his head, seeing the blue hedgehog was gone. He placed a hand on his heart and felt it was beating faster than normal. "What the heck?"

What was that? That blue hedgehog...why did it feel...familiar to him for some reason? And why did it feel like he met it before, along with Tails?

**If you're strong, you can fly. **

**You can reach the other side **

**Of the rainbow**

"Hey Naruto." Tails called out, getting his attention. "What was it like? Becoming Hyper Naruto?"

Naruto blinks and looks up thoughtfully. He then grins happily as he put his arms behind his head. "It was awesome! I was definitely way stronger than Super Naruto, I'll tell you that."

"Aw man. I wish I could've joined you." Tails pouted as his fox ears leaned down. "I would've enjoyed being Super _and_ Hyper Tails."

**It's all right, take a chance  
Cause there is no circumstance  
That you can't handle  
When you use your mind**

"Aw, don't worry bud. I'm sure you'll be able to turn Super in the future." Naruto said. He saw some Flickies in the sky singing happy song, making him wave at them as they waved back. "But Hyper? We'll have to wait a couple more years for that."

Tails still pouted. "O~Kay…" He said before he smiles happily at Naruto. "But man, we had a blast of an adventure didn't we?"

"Yeah. We sure did." Naruto said as he thought back on his first adventure on the South Island.

Memories of his meeting with Dr. Eggman Nega and collecting the six emeralds on the island while saving the Animals flashed through his mind. The next memories are him heading towards West Side Island, meeting Tails and forming a brotherly bond with him, collecting the seven emeralds together and fighting the Death Egg Robot as Super Naruto.

**Mr. Bad's  
Got it good  
But this ain't his neighborhood  
He's taking over, no, no**

Naruto smiles as he remembers his adventure on Little Planet and meeting Amy along with his new rival Metal Naruto. Now, he has made some new memories of his journey across the Angel Island and meeting Knuckles.

It's amazing. To think that him going on all these adventures to these mysterious and unknown places from Sonic's World, he has made a whole lot of new friends, made some enemies, with Eggman being his arch-nemesis, along with the boy in the mask, and even gained new powers. While he was sad he couldn't find Blaze anywhere, he was still happy as he made new memories of his journeys.

With Eggman Nega finally defeated, he can now head on back home. After all, everyone is waiting for him.

**Time is now  
He can't hide  
Find the power deep inside  
And make it happen**

"So what now Naruto?" Tails asked curiously, before looking down to see dolphins jumping out of the water.

"We're going home now Tails." Naruto grins.

Tails looked surprise before he smiled in excitement. "You mean…!?''

"Yup! Get ready kid!" Naruto said as he turns to Tails, giving him a thumbs up. "Because we're going to the Hidden Leaf Village!"

* * *

**Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Trouble keeps you running faster)  
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Save the planet from disaster)  
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Spinning through a world in motion)  
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Take it all the way!)**

Naruto is seen running across the Green Hill as he destroyed every Badnik that was in his way while also collecting any Rings he see. He now appears in the Labyrinth Zone as he jumps from platform and platform but fell into the water comically.

Naruto is now on the beach of West Side Island. Tails appears as he waved at him but then kept sneezing as he turns into his fox form, making Naruto laugh. The Ultimate Ninja is in the Death Egg as he transforms into Super Naruto, charging at the Death Egg Robot.

Now on Little Planet, Metal Naruto has captured Amy, with her crying out to Naruto, as they flew away. Naruto ran after him as he sped through time and space on the various Zones.

Naruto and Knuckles are fighting each other in the Hidden Palace, with Tails looking on comically while facepalming. Naruto is out in space as he transforms into Hyper Naruto, glaring out at the readers as he took a stance.

***Instruments***

The seven Chaos Emeralds appear circling around in space. The Time Stones appear next as they circled above the Chaos Emeralds. The Master Emerald appears next as the Chaos Emeralds gathered around it. In a flash of light, they transformed into the Super Emeralds.

**Make your move  
Break it out  
That's what life is all about  
It's your adventure**

Naruto is fighting against the Masked Boy as he tried to punch and kick him, only for them to get blocked or avoided. The Masked Boy then kicked Naruto in the stomach, making him slide back as he put his hand on it. Naruto glares at the Masked Boy before he charged at him with a battle cry, the Masked Boy doing the same.

**Through the dark  
To the light  
It's a supersonic flight  
Gotta keep it goin'**

Various Animals are seen playing in a field of flowers as they cheered happily. The Flickies looked down at the field and danced in the air. The field of flowers resembled Naruto's grinning face.

**Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Trouble keeps you running faster)  
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Save the planet from disaster)  
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Spinning through a world in motion)  
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom (Take it all the way!)  
Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom**

Blaze is seen walking along a path. She narrowed her eyes as she saw yet another town, which seems to raided by Bandits, judging from the rising smoke. She immediately dashed off to the small town, her fists erupting in flames, getting ready for the battle ahead.

Amy is seen driving her red car down a huge road, only for it to break down. She yells out angrily at this as she got out of it. She then summons a giant yellow hammer and slams it down on the hood. Doing this caused her car to start back as she cheers and got back in it. She drove again, heading towards her destination...to where Naruto is.

Knuckles is lying down on top of the Master Emerald, a relaxed smile present on his face. He opens his eyes and looks up at the clouds before closing them once again.

Naruto and Tails are still flying across the sea. They looked at each other with smiles on their faces. Tails saw something as he pointed at it, making Naruto turn back. He could see a continent straight ahead which made smile happily.

He was almost home. _They_ were almost home.

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village**

On Hokage Mountain, the Masked Boy is seen on top of the Fourth's head, looking down at the village.

"Is there a reason why you're here?" He spoke to a figure in a red coat that appeared behind him.

"Hey now. Is that any way to talk to your elders?" The figure spoke in a man's voice.

"You? My elder? Please." The Masked Boy said as he turned to the red coat figure. "Now what is it?"

"Just thought I dropped by to tell you that we found a new recruit." The man said.

"Oh yeah? Which one is this?" The Masked Boy asked. The man walked up to him and whispered in his masked covered ear. He stepped away as the Masked Boy looked down. "...I see."

"Y'know, I'm planning to go to the other side of that place to see what his other is like." The man said as a portal appeared behind him. "Wanna come with?"

The Masked Boy looked at the man before looking up at the sky to see the Tornado flying towards the village. "Whatever…" He turns and enters the portal with the man following after him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Phew! This has been the longest, action packed, chapter ever! But at least I got it finished! The next chapter is going to be short compared to the others as it's a continuation of this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed the little sneak peak of the scene at the end.


	11. Ultimate 10: Pt 2

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

* * *

**Ultimate 10.5: Welcome Home**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto stood in front of two gravestones, looking down at them with leaves flying around him. His father, Minato Namikaze, stood next to him as a transparent figure with his hand on his shoulder while his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, appeared on the other side of him.

* * *

In the Hidden Leaf Village, the Third Hokage stood on the roof of the mansion, looking up at the Hokage Mountain. He looks at each of the stone faces of his two predecessors, himself, and then his successor. He stopped and stared at the face of Minato.

It has been weeks since Naruto's disappearance and they still haven't heard word from him yet, and it's starting to worry him. He's been hearing rumors going around about Naruto's disappearance. One rumor say that he ran away from home and got killed, another said he abandoned the village and went somewhere else.

Hiruzen scoffed at the rumors. Not a single one of those rumors are true. Naruto would never run away from home nor would he abandoned. Despite his sad childhood, he still loved the village very much and would do anything in his power to protect it. Plus his dream is to become Hokage someday just like how it was his parents dream.

If he knows Naruto by now, and he does, there's no doubt in his mind that Naruto is trying to find his home right now as we speak. Who knows? Wherever Naruto went, he probably found Blaze and is bringing her home right now.

He turns to walk away but stopped as he heard something.

"Hm?" Hiruzen blinked from the strange sound. It sounded like...like it came from the sky. He looks up at the sky and saw...something flying. It sounded like a machine running on engine.

"...man!"

"What?" Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as he saw the flying object dive downwards to where he was. He also saw a figure waving his hands at him. "Is that…?"

"HEY!" The figure yelled happily. "OLD MAN!"

"Naruto?" Hiruzen asked as the flying object got lower. His eyes lit up happily as he saw Naruto standing on what appears to be wings of the machine. He was also still waving his hands. "Naruto!"

**Music: Invincible Theme [Sonic Runners]**

"Old man! I'm home!" Naruto yelled happily. He jumps in the pilot seat of the Tornado and steered upwards, flying past the roof of the Hokage Mansion, making the Third Hokage smile happily as he gave off a chuckle.

Naruto laughed happily as he stared down at everyone in the village as they looked up at him in shock, surprise and confusion. "I'M HOME EVERYONE! NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS RETURNED TO THE HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE!"

* * *

At Ichiraku Ramen, Iruka sat by himself eating some ramen. He looks next to him at the empty seat where Naruto would sit. He sighs sadly as he finished his food. It's been weeks. Long agonizing weeks since Naruto disappeared and there's still no word from him. What in the world could he be doing right?

"I'M HOME EVERYONE! NARUTO UZUMAKI HAS RETURNED TO THE HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE!"

The sudden shout made Iruka spit his ramen out in comical shock. He quickly ran outside and looked around, seeing everyone look up in surprise. He looked up and his eyes widen in shock and happiness. "NARUTO!?"

"HEY! IRUKA!" Naruto yelled back as he waved at his former instructor.

Iruka couldn't believe it. He just couldn't contain the joy and relief that appeared on his face. Naruto finally came back home! He laughed in joy with tears of relief falling from his eyes as he watched the strange machine Naruto was controlling fly past him. He quickly ran after him.

* * *

Sasuke is seen on the roof of his home, eating a tomato while tossing a Gold Ring in his hand. He couldn't stop thinking about Naruto. It's been weeks since he disappeared and they still haven't heard word from him. What the heck was that idiot loser doing right now?

"HEY SASUKE!"

"Hm?" Sasuke blinked at the sudden shout of his name. Wait a sec...that voice….that oddly _familiar_ voice. He turns his head once he heard the sound of engine and fans heading his way. His eyes widened as he saw flying machine flew past him. He looks up and saw Naruto waving at him before he stuck his tongue out.

"Naruto…?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes before he chased after the strange machine Naruto was flying.

* * *

Sakura was in her bedroom playing with a Gold Ring. She sighed to herself as she sat up from her bed.

"It's been weeks since you vanished Naruto. Where are you?" She asked. If she were honest, she actually missed that Knuckleheaded Idiot. She miss how he would often tease her about her crush on Sasuke and miss his constant yelling.

She sighed once again as she stood up. She was about to leave but stopped when a sound reached her ears. "Huh? What's that noise?" She walks up to the window and opened it.

Sakura screamed as she fell backwards when something flew past her window. She immediately got up and went to her window, looking at the flying machine. "What in the world?!"

'Hey Sakura!" Naruto stood up and waved at her from the flying machine before going back to control it, shocking Sakura.

"Naruto…? She asked in a whisper before a happy smile appeared on her face. "NARUTO!"

"_**CHA! I'm gonna clobber that idiot for worrying me!"**_ Inner Sakura yelled.

Sakura saw Sasuke jumping from roof to roof, apparently following Naruto. She looks down and saw many people watching Naruto. She even saw Iruka-sensei running after Naruto.

"Hey! Wait up!" Sakura jumped out her window and joined the chase.

* * *

Naruto shouted happily as he spun the Tornado around and did some tricks. He glance behind him, seeing Tails in the backseat but in his fox form.

"Hey Tails! You okay?"

"I'm feeling good!" Tails said, giving his big brother a thumbs up while holding onto a big brown backpack.

"Great! Remember the plan right?" Naruto asked.

"Of course!'' Tails nodded. Since he was in his fox form, the plan was for Tails to act like a plush doll in case anyone was nearby.

"Good." Naruto said

"Well, welcome back home Naruto."

Hearing the voice, made Tails jump before he quickly acted like a doll. Naruto looked at the wing of his plane, a happy smile present on his face. "Hey! Long time no see, Kakashi-sensei!"

There on his plane, stood his sensei Kakashi Hatake, an eye smile present on his face. "Yo."

"How've you been?" Naruto asked.

"Worried sick about you of course." Kakashi admitted. "Where have you been? What exactly is this thing?" He looks at Tails and blink in confusion. "And...is that a doll?"

Naruto gave a big grin. "First question, long story. I'll tell ya later. Second, this is the Tornado, my pride and joy. Thirdly...yes. Yes it is." He looks down and saw he was heading to the Village Gates, the spot of course being empty and clear. "Hold on tight sensei, we're about to land."

The Tornado dived down to the clear path. Once he was close to the ground, Naruto pulled the Tornado up as its wheels touched the ground. It then slowed down to a stop.

**Music End**

"Safe!" Naruto cheered. He took off his seatbelt and reached behind him, unstrapping Tails' seatbelt. He put him in the backpack, winking at him as he winked back. He put the backpack on and jumped out of the Tornado, stretching his limbs out while Kakashi landed next to his student. "Man it's good to be back!"

"Naruto!"

Naruto turns his head and saw Iruka running towards him. "Hiya Iruka! What's-"

"YOU MORON!"

**BONK!**

"OW! WHAT THE HELL?!" Naruto kneeled down and held his head as a large bump appeared on his head. "The hell was that for?!"

"What do you mean "the hell was that for"!?" Iruka asked, a small vein on his head. "Do you have any idea how worried everyone was about you?! You haven't wrote a letter to anyone in weeks and we started to think something bad happened to you!"

"Yeah well nothing happened to me! See? I'm fine!" Naruto said. "And the reason why I haven't wrote a letter yet is because I was busy doing something important!"

"With what?! What was so important that you haven't wrote to anyone!?"

"Like I told Kakashi, I'll tell you later!" Naruto said.

"Tell me!

"Later!"

"Now!"

"Later!"

Naruto and Iruka glared at each other before tears welled up in their eyes. "I miss you!" They both cried out as they hugged each other.

Kakashi meanwhile watched the whole exchange with a sweat drop running down his head.

"Naruto! It's really you!"

Naruto and Iruka stopped hugging each other as they turned around and saw Sasuke and Sakura running to them. Naruto smiled happily as he instantly ran at them and brought them in a group hug, surprising them.

"Sasuke! Sakura! I missed you guys too!" Naruto exclaimed happily. He stopped when he realized he was hugging Sasuke. He let them go and rubbed his shirt. "Okay, dumb idea to hug Sasuke. I hope you didn't catch something while I was away."

"Tch. Shut up, you loser." Sasuke turned his head away while Naruto did the same thing. They both glanced at each other with small smirks present on their faces. "Welcome back." He held his fist out.

"Good to be back, jerkface." Naruto brought his fist together with Sasuke, doing a fist bump.

Sakura had tears well up in her eyes as she watched the interaction between. "You idiot! You had us all scared and worried to death about you!"

Naruto rubbed her head softly, a soft grin present. "Aw, relax. Iruka already explained it to me."

"It's still nice to remind you that people here have missed you." An old voice said. "Nonetheless, it's good to have you back safe and sound, Naruto."

"Old Man!" Naruto quickly ran to him, giving him a hug which Hiruzen returned as well.

"Welcome home Naruto." Hiruzen smiled softly as they released each other.

"Hm." Naruto nodded as he quickly wiped the tears that began to gather in his eyes.

"So where have you been this whole time Naruto?" Sakura asked. She then turns to the Tornado. "And what is that thing?"

"Again, I'll tell everyone the whole story later." Naruto said before a sheepish smile was present on his face. "But first, can you tell me a safe place where I can put my Tornado? It's very important to me."

That made everyone look at him then to the plane.

* * *

**Later**

After taking the plane to Training Ground 7, everyone gathered up in the Hokage's office. The Hokage sat behind his desk, staring at Naruto with everyone else staring at him as well.

"So...where to start at?" Naruto asked.

"From the very beginning when you disappeared. Don't leave anything out." Hiruzen said in a serious tone fit for a Kage.

"Right…"

Naruto took a deep breath and told everyone in the room, everything that happened. From when the Masked Boy attacked him and send him off to South Island, all the way to his adventures.

As he told them his journey, he also explained to them about the Chaos Emeralds, the Time Stones on Little Planet, the Master Emerald and the Badniks. He also explained to them about his **Chaos Powers**, along with his Super and Hyper forms.

For the story about West Side Island, he told them that he had a friend to help him out during his journey across there and on Angel Island. He even transformed into Dr. Eggman Nega to show everyone what he looked like.

He also told them about the evil robot twins that Eggman had created based on his image, going even further as he transformed into each and every one of them.

"After my final battle with Dr. Nega out in space as Hyper Naruto and giving the Master Emerald back to Knuckles, I took the Tornado and flew all the way here." Naruto finished his story as he took a deep breath and let it out. He looks around and sweat dropped as everyone stared wide eyed at him.

"Hm…" Hiruzen hummed as he closed his eyes, processing everything that Naruto told them. He opens his eyes and stared. "Now, let me see if I got this right Naruto. You say that Masked Boy sent you to an island, that's not even located on our map, and you met a mad scientist, who not only tried to kidnap animals to place them inside these Badniks as you call them, but to also search for the Chaos Emeralds, yes?"

"Yes. Though I call the animals little Critters to differentiate them from regular animals." Naruto replied as the Old Kage nods.

"The Chaos Emeralds, from what you told us, are seven magical emeralds that has the ability to transform our thoughts into power. When all seven are together, they also give you the power to access a super form."

"Yeah."

"This Dr. Eggman Nega wanted to use the power of those emeralds so he can power up this space station called the Death Egg, and use it to take over our world. So you traveled across the South Island to locate the emeralds first before he could, but there were only six of them there correct?"

"Correct."

"Your second journey then took you to the West Side Island, where you met your friend Miles Prower, who joined you on your quest to locate the emeralds, with the seventh emerald being there. Once you two gathered them all, you traveled out to space and went inside the Death Egg, where you fought a robotic clone of yourself called Robo Naruto and Dr. Eggman in his...Death Egg Robot. Using the power of the Chaos Emeralds you transformed into Super Naruto, beat Dr. Eggman and blew up the Death Egg."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto said with a smug grin. "Eggman was definitely not expecting that."

Hiruzen smirked a little before he continued. "Your third journey took you to Little Planet, a satellite as you said, that appears above our planet."

"Yeah. It appears over Never Lake one month out of every year and vanish for the remaining eleven months." Naruto reminded everyone.

"Of course." Hiruzen nodded. "But when you got there, Dr. Eggman chained it to a mountain and took over it. When you got there, you found Eggman and saw him searching for the Time Stones, seven stones that allows someone to control time itself and let their wielder move through the passage of time."

"..." Naruto remained silent as he looked down, though he did nod his head. "That's right…"

Hiruzen, Kakashi and Iruka noted the dead tone in Naruto's voice as well as seeing the expression on his face, which concerned Iruka, though Hiruzen and Kakashi already knew what that meant but didn't say anything.

Sasuke raised a brow at Naruto's behavior, which was unlike Naruto, and Sakura looked worried.

"Naruto?" She asked. "Are you...okay?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah! Fine. Just fine." Naruto said as he rubbed his head sheepishly. "Just thought about something, that's all."

Hiruzen stared at Naruto, watching as he glanced at the picture of his father on the wall before turning back to him. "_I see now…" _He'll have to talk to Naruto about that later. "Anyway, after learning about the Time Stones and figured out Eggman's goal with them, you traveled back and forth through time using these Time Warp Plates to destroy any of Eggman's factory that were in the past to create a Good Future for them."

"Uh huh."

"However, you met a girl name Amy Rose who followed you to Little Planet and got kidnapped by another robot twin that Dr. Eggman created. I believe this one was called...Metal Naruto, am I right?"

"Right."

"Once you collected the Time Stones, you beat Metal Naruto in a race, saving your friend in the process and went to battle with Eggman. But in the middle of your fight, the Masked Boy appeared again, got rid of Eggman, and challenged you to fight."

"Which is put on hold." Naruto said as he clenched his fists. He will most definitely pay that bastard back when he see him again.

"Right. After you and Amy left Little Planet, the chain that held it got destroyed and the Time Stones went back to their home, with Little Planet vanishing once again as the legend said."

"Big time."

"Now we come down to your final journey, which took place on Angel Island. As you and your friend Miles got there by your Tornado, you saw the Death Egg, which crashed landed there after your previous battle with Eggman. You two then met a boy name Knuckles, who took the Chaos Emeralds from you and hid them inside the Secret Zones. From what I can understand, Eggman appeared on the island first and tricked the poor boy into thinking you were after the Master Emerald."

"Yup."

"Now this Master Emerald...you say that this thing is a parent to the Chaos Emeralds?" Hiruzen asked curiously

Naruto nodded. "The Master Emerald, in a short version, basically controls the power of the Chaos Emeralds. It also what makes Angel Island float in the sky."

"Yes, with Knuckles being the guardian of said emerald, which Eggman took advantage of so he can take the emerald to power up the Death Egg." Hiruzen said.

To think that there's a boy, around the same age as Naruto, guardian such an extremely powerful relic by himself. It made him sad that the lad was forced to carry such a heavy burden and not experience life as a child.

"After you collected the Chaos Emerald, you found Knuckles leaving a hidden a chamber, which led to where the Master Emerald was at."

"Yeah, when me and Miles got there, the Master Emerald took the Chaos Emeralds away and transformed them into Super Emeralds." Naruto replied.

"Giving you further access to a form more powerful than your super form." Hiruzen finished. "Once you and Knuckles met each other again, the both of you fought to a stand still only for Eggman to take the Master Emerald and went to the Death Egg, powering it up with the emerald's power. Before you could make there, Eggman created _another_ robot clone to keep you from heading to the Death Egg."

"Please. If Metal Naruto couldn't beat me, what made him think Mecha Naruto would?" Naruto said, crossing his arms and turning his head to the side, a cocky smirk present.

Iruka sweat dropped from Naruto's attitude. "_Either he became more arrogant during his journey or that might be his ego talking."_

"So after defeating this Mecha Naruto, you and Miles boarded the Death Egg before it could reach space. After going through the Death Egg's many traps, you both found Eggman and fought him out in space. While fighting his battle mech, he used the Master Emerald as a power source for this weapon." Hiruzen stated.

"After we destroyed it, Eggman tried to escape with the Master Emerald again but we stopped him." Naruto continued, crossing his arms. "Without its power, the Death Egg was about to blow up so I sent Miles back to earth." Here Naruto rolled his eyes. "But of course, Eggman showed up and snatched the Master Emerald again, so I transformed into Hyper Naruto this time and fought him once again."

"And when you won the battle, you took the Master Emerald and brought it back to Angel Island where it began to float once again." Hiruzen continued from there.

"And here I am now talking to you and telling you this wild crazy story." Naruto finished

"More than that." Kakashi said with a wide eyed expression. "That has gotta be the craziest _and_ wildest story I've ever heard." He placed a hand under his chin. "Three mysterious unknown islands that's not on the map _and _a small planet that appears above a lake?"

"That's...that's just too crazy to be true!" Sakura agreed. "So wait, you mean you actually went through all that?"

"Of course I did!" Naruto said, looking offended in a comical way. "Ain't no way I would make this up, besides I got the Tornado as prove!"

"But still Naruto…" Iruka spoke up an excited smile appearing on his face. "You've been to places and found objects that we didn't even know existed! Matter of fact, I don't think _anyone_ throughout the Shinobi World knows about them."

"That's right." Hiruzen spoke getting everyone's attention. "Remember what I told you Iruka, our world is a big mysterious place." He stood up from his seat and looked out the window. "South Island. West Side Island. Angel Island. Little Planet. Chaos Emeralds. Time Stones. The Master Emerald. These are places and objects no one in this world knows about, let alone know that they exist. It's almost as if they appeared out of thin air. If someone with evil intentions, like Dr. Eggman, were to discover these emeralds, then this world would be in grave danger."

Sasuke looked at the Hokage before looking down in thought. Honestly, this was all too much for his brain to handle. Seven emeralds that grants you unlimited power, seven stones that makes someone travel through time and a giant Chaos Emerald that controls the power of the Chaos Emeralds, meaning it's the most powerful relic that exists!

He grit his teeth in jealousy. To think that Naruto would actually discover them and learn of their power, add to the fact that the Chaos Emeralds also allowed someone to transform into a super form. Then there was that kid Knuckles who's the guardian of this Master Emerald that can control the Chaos Emeralds and allow them to transform into Super Emeralds, giving the user a form more powerful than the super form the regular emeralds grants.

Adding to the fact that Naruto is the first and _only_ person to experience that type of power. Not only that, they also helped him unlock a new type of power as Naruto called Chaos Powers, which allows him to manipulate chaos energy in various ways. It sounded like chakra, except way more powerful.

Sasuke turns to Naruto. "Do you still have them?" He spoke for the first time, which caught everyone's attention.

"Have what?" Naruto asked.

"The Chaos Emeralds. Do you have them now?" Sasuke repeated the question.

Naruto shook his head. "Nope. Like I said, when all Chaos Emeralds come together in one place, they scatter and disappear all over again. After I changed back to my regular form, I felt the Super Emeralds change back into Chaos Emeralds and vanish."

"I get it. So that means the emeralds are out there somewhere." Sakura said as she nodded her head.

"Yup. You got it." Naruto said. "Either that or they went back into the Secret Zone and the only to get there is through the Warp Rings."

Sasuke wasn't all that happy with the answer but still accepted it. He will definitely have to be on the lookout for those Warp Rings.

"But no worries." Naruto grinned as he put his hands behind his head. "Even though I already beat Egghead, I know that he might come back someday with some other scheme that involves the Chaos Emeralds." He smirks in confidence as he gives the old kage a thumbs up. "When he does, I'll be ready for him along with any other bad guy out there! And I won't be alone. Me, Miles, Knuckles, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei will be there to stop them. With all of us together, the sky's the limit!"

That made everyone look surprise. Hiruzen however smiled proudly at Naruto with Kakashi eye-smiling as well as he nodded too. Iruka looked somewhat worried but he did have a smile. Sakura actually smiled but it was nervous. Sasuke just closed his eyes, wearing a small smirk.

"You know, I guess this makes you a hero Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you risked your life to stop a madman from taking over the world and even saved a small planet." Kakashi explained, staring proudly at his student as he rubbed his head. "To me, that would make you a hero. Just like the Fourth Hokage."

"He's right." Iruka agreed as he chuckled. "I guess that make me your biggest fan."

Naruto chuckled as he blushed in embarrassment. "Oh come on. You're making me blush. But then again, I _am_ the world's ultimate ninja after all."

Sakura smiled and shook her head before she noticed Naruto's backpack move slightly. She also saw something white sticking out. She walks up to it, a curious look on her face. "Hey Naruto. I saw something move in your bag. What's that in there?"

Naruto did a comical spit take before his eyes widened as he felt Sakura open his bag. "Sakura wait!"

Sakura gasp as her widen eyes were replaced by hearts. "OH MY GOSH!" She reached into the bag and took out Tails, who had a smile frozen on his face. "It's so adorable!" She hugged Tails, rubbing her cheek against his.

"What the?" Iruka's eyes widen in astonishment as he stared at the strange...fox Sakura seems to be hugging. But what made him surprise was that the fox had _two_ tails! The fox also seems to be wearing gloves and shoes.

Iruka has to admit, this fox looked _incredibly_ different from the foxes he's seen, even more different than the Nine-Tails Fox.

"...is that a toy?" Sasuke raised a brow at the doll.

"Yes! Toy! Toy! Definitely a toy!" Naruto quickly answered, his eyes turned comical as he moved his arms up and down.

"Oh?" Hiruzen asked, rising a brow at the supposed "toy" that Sakura seems to be hugging.

Sasuke wore a deadpan expression on his face. "Why do you have a toy with you?"

"Oh! Well um...Tails is…" Naruto tried to explain.

"Tails? You actually _named_ it?" Sasuke asked, a small teasing smirk on his face. "You're such a dork."

"No...you see...he's…!"

"The name fits perfectly!" Sakura exclaimed as she hugged Tails close to her chest, which also hid the increasing blush on his cheeks. "He looks so real and fluffy! Where did you find him Naruto?"

That made Naruto sweat nervously but he still had a smile on his face. "Oh right! Well...I found him on West Side Island! It didn't feel right for me to throw him away, so I kept him along for the ride! He's been really helpful to me!"

"You mean you _and_ Miles, right?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto flinched at the mistake he made. "Yeah! That's what I meant!"

Hiruzen shook his head as he released a chuckle. "Well anyway...I believe that's enough for one day. Now that Naruto has returned to us, I am proud to say that Squad 7 is back together again."

"You got that right!" Naruto grinned.

"Also, thanks to Naruto, we are the only known village to know about the Chaos Emeralds and the man who's searching for them." Hiruzen spoke in his serious voice, which made everyone go serious as well. "Squad 7, while you continue to do your regular missions, I'm going to give you a secret mission. This mission is to find the Chaos Emeralds before Dr. Eggman or anyone else does. It's very important that no one else in the Shinobi World knows about the emeralds for we already know what they might do with them."

That made everyone nod their heads.

"For now, take this time to celebrate Naruto's return. Sasuke and Sakura, you are dismissed for the day, Naruto and Kakashi please remain here for a little bit. There's still some stuff we must discuss" Hiruzen said, taking a quick glance at the "doll".

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other in confusion before shrugging their shoulders. Sakura handed Naruto his doll back with a slight pout on her face. She still wanted to play with him. The two then left, leaving the room quiet.

"Now I believe it's time we talk about the elephant in the room." Hiruzen said with a knowing smirk. "Wouldn't you agree Naruto?"

Naruto sweats nervously as his eyes darted around the room. "Elephant? What elephant? There's no elephant. I don't see an elephant, do you see one Kakashi? Iruka?"

Kakashi looked away but he had a knowing smile on his face. Iruka just sighed and shook his head.

"Naruto, I may be old but I'm still Hokage first and foremost." Hiruzen said in amusement. "So I know for a fact that _toy_ in your arms is not a toy."

"..." Naruto's face went comically blank before he sighed as he looked down at Tails. "Tails, the jig's up. You can stop acting."

"Aw...did I mess up?" Tails asked as Naruto put him down.

"Nah, they're shinobi. We're just that sharp." Naruto replied. He and Tails turn to everyone in the room and saw their reactions.

Iruka's eyes widened in utter amazement and in somewhat alarm, Kakashi's lone eye widen in surprise, and Hiruzen had an awe look on his face. They were all staring at Tails which made him nervous and shy.

"Um...hello everyone." Tails waved to them. "I'm Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails. It's nice to meet you."

"Amazing…" Hiruzen whispered in amazement as he stared at the twintail fox cub. He's met and seen a lot of animals before but _definitely_ not one like this. "So you're the famous Miles in Naruto's story."

"That's right!" Naruto laughed, rubbing Tails' head affectionately. "This little guy has been helping me throughout my adventures. Heck there were times when he even saved me. He's the best partner in crime I could ever ask for and I'm proud to have him by my side!"

"N...Naruto…" Tails blushed at the compliment as he waved his arms up and down comically. "C-Come on. Don't say stuff like that!"

"Why? It's the truth. After all, you're the world's smartest and greatest master engineer I know!" Naruto smiles happily which made Tails rub his head sheepishly, a trait he's seem to have gained from Naruto.

Hiruzen, Kakashi and Iruka smiled at the scene before them. It would seem that during their time together, the two have formed a special brotherly bond.

Kakashi coughed into his fist, bringing attention to himself. "In any case…I want to thank you for keeping an eye on one of my precious students Tails. He can be quite a handful at times."

That made Tails giggle. "You have no idea."

"Hey! I'm right here!" Naruto said with a pout as he turns away, which made Tails laugh.

"Anyway, I'm Kakashi Hatake, Naruto's teacher." Kakashi introduced himself.

"Ah! Naruto told me about you! About all of you!" Tails said happily as he used his twintails to fly in front of him, which surprised the Jonin at the unique ability. "You're Kakashi Hatake. The man who has a special eye that lets you copy a ninja's jutsu!" He grabbed Kakashi's hand, shaking it up and down. "It's so awesome to meet you!"

"Um...likewise." Kakashi said, amazed at the cub's sudden enthusiasm and the unique ability of using his tails to fly.

Tails then flew towards Iruka, surprising him. "You're Iruka Umino, Naruto's childhood teacher. Nice to meet you very much sir!"

"S-Sure Tails." Iruka smiles at the fox cub. He reminded him so much of Naruto from when he was young. "Nice to meet you as well."

Tails then flew in front of Hiruzen's smiling face. "And you're Hiruzen Sarutobi! The Hoka-A-A-ACHOO!" He covered his mouth using his hands as he sneezed, causing a poof of smoke to appear around him.

The Hokage, Jonin and Chunin eyes widened comically. The reason for this is because as the smoke cleared, they saw Tails in his human form. He looked around the same age as Konohamaru and his friends except younger. But what shocked them the most was the fox ears and twintails he had on his being.

"...Hokage." Tails said looking like a deer that's been caught by headlights.

"Miles? Is that...really you?" Hiruzen asked as he helped the child up.

"Yes, it's me." Tails replied. "Guess you're surprised, huh?"

"More than you could think." Kakashi said. "This is something you don't see everyday."

Iruka still had the same expression but he did nod his head.

"I take it that this form you're in is your _true_ form?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

"Well yeah." Tails answered, looking down. "See...when I was a baby, a nice old lady named Anna was the one who took care of me. She told me she found me in this form on her front doorstep along with a letter, which she assumed was from my mom. But when I got older I noticed I was smarter than any ordinary kids as I love to invent and fix stuff. Miss Anna knew this but she kept supporting me, telling me there's nothing wrong with doing something that you love, despite what the other children or grown ups might say."

Tails smiled at the happy memories he had with Miss Anna but then a sad look appeared. "But one night after I went to the bathroom, I suddenly sneezed. I found out about my fox form. I...I didn't want Miss Anna to know about it, but believe it or not, she told me she already knew about it. And despite that, she still took care of me and loved me as if I was her own grandson." He smiled sadly. "But everyone else...they treated me like I was a monster."

Iruka's eyes widened before they narrowed into a glare. His story reminded him too much of Naruto's own childhood. Hiruzen and Kakashi thought the same thing as their eyes turned into a glare.

Naruto, however, had his hair cover his eyes. But if one were to take a closer look, they would see him, gripping his jacket.

"After Miss Anna died and I was all alone, that's when everyone showed their true colors." Tails said sadly as memories of his life among humans flashed through his mind. "Everyone would call me names like "monster", "freak", among many others. They would also throw things at me and vandalize our home. There were also times when I worked on an invention, the kids would destroy it and make me watch. They...they even tried to kill me one night when I was asleep."

That made Hiruzen's eyes widen in anger while Iruka gasped in absolute horror. Kakashi's lone eye narrowed further before he glanced at Naruto, hearing a growl coming from him.

"So I was chased out of town. I found myself drifting off into sea before finding an island. I called it Cocoa Island and I lived there for a while." Tails continued his story. "I left Cocoa Island and began to explore the ocean, I found West Side Island along the way and lived there ever since. Of course, the Critters didn't like me because of my forms, so they would often pick on me from time to time." He smiles happily as he turns to Naruto.

"That's when Naruto showed up on the island! Despite me being different, he still accepted me for who I am and let me come with him on his adventure! Since then, the two of us have always been together! He's the bestest best friend I could ever ask for." Tails said happily

Naruto gave a big grin. "Aw, I love ya too little buddy."

That made the grown ups in the room smile warmly. Despite Tails' horrible past, he still remained a gentle and sweet nurtured little soul. Naruto must've saw himself in Tails' place and took him along because he didn't want him to feel lonely anymore. And from they were told, they could tell that Naruto is very protective of Tails.

Like a big brother acts towards his younger brother.

"Well then Tails. It's very nice to have you with us and I would like to welcome you to your new home." Hiruzen said. "But since you're different from everyone else, we'll have to cover some rules."

"O-Okay!" Tails nodded.

"Rule 1: If you ever turn back into your fox form, you must and always remain a doll to fool everyone else. Though my more experienced shinobi wouldn't fall for it, I will still remind them to act natural. And Naruto, since I know that you will be taking Tails with you wherever you go, you will have to hide him inside your backpack."

"Yes sir!" Naruto and Tails saluted to him.

"Rule 2: Tails, if you're ever in your human form, you must have your... _extra features_ remain hidden. After all, the village isn't ready to meet someone such as yourself, mainly due to a tragedy that happened a long time ago."

"Tragedy?" Tails asked curiously, tilting his head slightly.

Hiruzen saw Naruto moving, making him glance at him, only to see him shake his head and mouthing "He doesn't know." He nodded slightly, turning back to Tails.

"Don't worry. It happened long before you were born." Hiruzen said. "Now for hiding your features…"

"Way ahead of ya!" Naruto said pulling out a cap and puts it on Tails' head, making his ears fold back. He then took out a white cloth and wrapped it around Tails' waist. It was long enough to cover his twintails. "Huh? Huuuh?"

Kakashi and Iruka sweat dropped at Naruto's…disguise for Tails, if that's what he would call it.

"Naruto that's a horrible disguise." Iruka deadpans.

"But it would work for now." Hiruzen sighed at Naruto's antics. "Lastly rule 3, and this is for you personally Naruto: Since you will be taking Tails with you on your missions with your Squad, he must and never come out of your bag _unless_ something has happened to all of you and you find yourselves in a pickle."

"Yes. I understand." Naruto nodded as he spoke in his serious voice.

"That is all for today. You two may leave and join your friends." Hiruzen smiled softly. "And Naruto…" Naruto blinks before the Hokage threw something at Naruto, making him catch it out of reflex. "It's great to have you back home."

Naruto looked down at his hand and his eyes widen happily and in relief. It was his lucky charm. He hugged it close to his chest, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He looks up at Hiruzen smiling softly as he nods his head. "Good to be back." He looks down at Tails, wiping the tears away. "Come on buddy! I'm gonna give ya the best grand tour of your life!"

"Okay!" Tails said happily as the two left the office.

"Naruto...he sure made some great friends while he left." Iruka said, smiling softly.

"He sure did." Kakashi said before he looked down thoughtfully. "But Tails though...he certainly is quite different from the rest us. A human form with fox like features and a unique fox form I've never seen before. Add to the fact that he has _twintails_."

That made Hiruzen narrow his eyes while Iruka's eyes widen

"What _exactly_ are you trying to Kakashi?" The Chunin asked, a disbelief expression written on his face as he realized what Kakashi was implying. "Are you saying what I think you're saying…?"

"Depends. What do _you_ think I'm saying?" Kakashi asked, even though it was clear to Iruka what he was trying to say.

"But that's impossible!" Iruka exclaimed. "There's no way Tails could be...do you even know how crazy or impossible that sounds?!"

"Believe me, after listening to Naruto's story, I can't think of anything else that's crazier." Kakashi answered honestly with a shrug of his shoulders.

Iruka looked down, a shocked look present on his face. "How could that even be possible? Tails is around my students age! And the Nine-Tails has been sealed inside of Naruto this whole time! There's no way he could be…!"

"But the possibility still stand to reason." A new voice interrupted from within the shadows, getting everyone's attention.

"Somehow, I knew you would be here as well...**Danzo Shimura**." Hiruzen spoke to the shadows in a deadly tone as he glared at the shadows.

Out from the shadows appeared a frail, old man, who walked with a cane. He had black, shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged. He has an x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt, with a black or dark grey robe over the top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder. The robe conceals his right arm.

Hiruzen and Kakashi narrowed their eyes slightly at seeing the Shinobi of Darkness.

"L-Lord Danzo." Iruka said in a surprise. "I had no idea you were in here."

"I assume you heard everything?" Hiruzen asked.

"Every word. I've already sent word to the Clan Heads and the rest of the council for a meeting to discuss this matter." Danzo said as he turns to Iruka. "That child is someone the likes of which this world has never seen before. The fox features his human form has and the fox form itself. No matter how much you deny it, the prove is there Iruka. Miles Prower...is the Nine-Tailed Fox's child."

* * *

**Later**

"Hey old man! Another bowl over here!"

"Hahaha! Comin' right up kid!"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, who was holding Tails were at Ichiraku eating a bowl of ramen together with Naruto being at his seventh bowl.

While they left the mansion, Tails suddenly sneezed again, turning back into his fox form again. Naruto quickly snatched Tails up and put him in his backpack, before anyone could come out and see him. When he left, he immediately ran around the village at supersonic speed, giving Tails a quick tour around the village.

However, before he could finish, he ran into Sasuke and Sakura, which made him skid to a stop, startling Sakura slightly and making Sasuke loom surprise for a moment

Instead of clobbering him, Sakura immediately ran to him, taking Tails out of the backpack and hugged the life out him. She just couldn't help it To her, Tails is the most adorable doll she as ever seen. She was also jealous that he basically belonged to Naruto and that he wouldn't let her have him.

The three of them (four counting Tails) left, with Naruto taking the lead. They stopped by Ichiraku's ramen joint. The moment Naruto entered, Ayame jumped over the counter and hugged the life out of him while Teuchi laughed in joy and hugged him as well.

After eating final bowl, Naruto cried comical tears of joy. "Oh old man! How I miss you and your ramen!"

"Are you kidding me? I missed _you_ the most kid!" Teuchi laughed. "Thanks to your spicy chili ramen recipe, business has been PACKED since you left! By the way, where have you been the whole time?"

"Oh just out saving the world from an evil scientist who wants to take over it." Naruto answered with a shrug.

"Is that so?" Teuchi asked with a laugh as he walked back to the kitchen. "Well I hoped you kick that scientist's butt for us."

"Believe me, I did." Naruto said. He turns to his teammates. "So what's been going on with you guys since I left?"

"Well all we did was just the usual. Missions, training and wondering where you were." Sakura said, turning to Naruto and not seeing Tails blink his eyes. "So about this Secret Zone you told us about earlier. What are they like?"

"It's weird to be honest." Naruto answered. "The Secret Zone are like these pocket dimensions with many shapes and colors in the sky, it's crazy."

Sakura's eyes sparkled in awe. "And you said the Chaos Emeralds are in that place? How did you even get them?"

Sasuke glanced at them, listening in on the conversation. He too wanted to know more about this Secret Zone.

"The Secret Zone makes you do all these challenges." Naruto replied. "Once you beat them, you'll get a Chaos Emerald. But each Secret Zone has a different challenge."

Sakura looked confused while Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Different how?" The Uchiha asked, wanting to know more.

Naruto looked up thoughtfully. "Back on South Island, the Secret Zones there had me go through a rotating diamond maze and destroy these barriers that covered the Chaos Emeralds. I had to watch out for the flashing red balls there, otherwise I would get kicked out. West Side Island's Secret Zone had me and Miles run through a half pipe tube while collecting the right amount of rings. We just had to watch out for the bombs. Little Planet's Zone had me run around a track to destroy these UFOs within a time limit. Angel Islands' Zone had me and Miles run around this planet-like sphere to collect these blue spheres, if we touched the red ones we get kicked out."

"Whoa, those challenges sound tough." Sakura said with a wide eye expression as she imagined what they would look like.

"Believe me, you have no idea." Naruto said, remembering the close calls he had in the Secret Zones.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he looked down in thought. So not only do you have to find a Warp Ring to get into the Secret Zone you also had to do whatever challenge it makes you have to do in order to get a Chaos Emerald? But each challenge might be different from the last.

"_If we're going to find these Warp Rings that leads to the Secret Zones, we need to be ready for whatever challenge they might have for us. We know what the challenges Naruto went through are like...but there's still a possibility that we might get something different...or at least similar."_

Sasuke's thought were interrupted at the sound of rings hitting the counter. He turns to see Naruto had just dropped a bunch of Gold Rings.

"Hey old man! Keep the change!" Naruto called out. He walks outside and noted the sun turned orange. "Wow, the sun is starting to set already? Hehe, days really do move fast when you have the most fun."

"No, it's because your story was just _that_ long." Sakura deadpans at him. She smiles softly. "Well anyway, I better head on home." She handed Tails back to Naruto. "See you tomorrow guys." She grabbed Tails' cheek and rubbed her nose against his. "And I'll see you tomorrow Tails." She walked away just in time to not see Tails' blushing face as his eyes turned into comical swirls.

"Hey Sasuke-" Naruto turns to him, only to see him jumping from roof to roof, apparently heading. "Oh whatever you jackass!" He huffed and turns to walk away before he stops. He did a hand sign and summoned a clone next. He handed him Tails. "Take Tails home and watch over him for a little."

"Got it." Clone Naruto said.

Naruto turns to the still dazed Tails. "There's someplace I need to go. I'll be back Tails."

"Ah...ah…" Tails' brain was still on fire after Sakura's surprising stunt which made the two Naruto to sweat drop.

"Well...later."

Naruto turns and walks away, hands behind his head. He looks back and saw the clone had already left. He looks ahead and runs off, turning into a yellow blur. He ran for a couple of seconds before stopping at his first destination: The Hidden Leaf Cemetery.

Naruto never thought he would admit this, but he was nervous. This will be the first time he will ever visit his parents grave after finding out who they are. He swallowed his spit and enters the cemetery, looking at off the gravestones that were there. He was reading the names of the stones as he tried to find his parents.

His eyes widened slightly in delight as he found their names, and just as he suspected, they were next to each other. He walks up to their graves and got on his knees, placing a bunch of yellow flowers and red roses on his dad and mom's graves respectively.

"Hey there. Mom...dad. I'm...I'm back home." Naruto whispered softly to the gravestones that had his parents names on them. He sat down in front of them. "Sorry it took me a while to come visit. Though at the time, I didn't know who you two were, well except for dad since he's...y'know the Fourth Hokage and all that, and mom, well I learned about you from these three hedgehogs I know."

Naruto looks down, a soft smile present on his face. "A lot of things have happened to me. Back from when I was just kid to today. I made my very first friend, only to end up losing her one day. I...haven't found her yet but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I'll find her and bring her here to come meet you. I have a feeling you guys would've love to meet her."

Memories of his childhood flashed through his mind, causing him to take out his lucky charm as he hugged it close to him.

"When she disappeared that day...it felt like...like my whole world was ripped to shreds. The Old Man sent some of his ninja out to look for her throughout the Land of Fire, only to find nothing. I...was broken. I wasn't eating, sleeping, paying attention in class...nothing. I was just thinking about Blaze. I wanted my best friend back. And everybody in the village? They just didn't care. And if they would ever talk bad about her or take my lucky charm…"

Memories of him fighting, scratching and biting everyone, be it a citizen, shinobi or even children flashed through his head.

"Anyway...let's just say the Old Man set me straight back then." Naruto chuckled. "After that, I just kept training. I trained, trained, trained and trained each and every day. That way I'll be strong enough to leave the village and find Blaze again. Then there was that day."

The day he learned the truth about the Nine-Tails from Mizuki.

"I was shocked as hell to find out about that. But what took my shock further...was when I met them. Sonic, Shadow and Silver." Naruto smiled happily as he recalls meeting them. "Those three have been inside of me even before I was born. They also told me that they came from _another world_." He laughed. "Yeah, I was shocked too. They told me some things about you guys. Told me how you risked your life to protect me when the Nine-Tails tried to kill. Dad, I wanted to punch the living shit out of you for making go through all that…" He looks down, blushing slightly. "But they told me that you believed in me. You believed that I would be the one to control the Nine-Tails' power and make it my own. You trusted me with this responsibility and...I guess I'm happy to know that."

Naruto looks down sadly. "I wanted to talk to them some more. To learn more about them. But they...they had to go away. Before they left, they gave me something, said it was a _late_ birthday present." He chuckled at that before he placed his hand on his heart. "They left me...their legacy. Pretty cool right?"

Naruto grins happily. "After I kicked Mizuki's butt, Iruka let me graduate! I joined a team with Sakura and her _boyfriend_ Sasuke and we have Kakashi as our instructor! We did a ton of missions before doing a C-Rank mission to Wave. But it got turned into A-Rank cause the client lied to us but I didn't care. He was in danger and I couldn't ignore that so I decided to finish it alone, but Kakashi and the others joined me. We learned that Wave was being taken over by some bastard name Gato and he hired some goons to kill our client because he was trying to build a bridge."

Memories of the Wave Incident flashed through his mind. Zabuza and Haku then appeared, making Naruto smile sadly.

"But you know what? Those guys...Zabuza and Haku, they were okay. After Haku sacrificed himself to save Zabuza, Gato and his thugs suddenly came to the bridge and Zabuza took them all down, even Gato, despite the injuries he sustained because of that. He really was one way past cool demon. After Gato died, the people of Wave came together and drove them away. All in all, it was an awesome mission."

Naruto then told his parents the adventures he had when the Masked Boy separated him from his squad.

"All in all, those were the greatest adventures I've ever been on in my life! I've made friends, enemies and I keep getting stronger and stronger!" Naruto chuckles. "I can already tell my next adventure is going to start soon." He remained silent for a couple seconds as he looked up and stared at the bright orange sun, not paying to someone standing behind him.

"You know...back on Little Planet when I had the Time Stones...I was...I was going to use them. I was going to travel back to that day, so that I could save you both."

"Ah, I see." Naruto jumped and gave a startled yell. He looks behind him and Hiruzen standing behind him. "So that's why you had that look when I mentioned them."

"Old Man?! Uh...how long were you standing there and how much did you hear?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Long enough and I heard much." Hiruzen took a seat next to Naruto, staring at the gravestones of Minato and Kushina. "Now about what you said…"

Naruto stared at him before looking at his parents grave. "Yeah. When I heard about what the Time Stones were capable of, I thought to myself 'This is it! With the Time Stones, I'll be able to travel to the day I was born! I'll save mom and dad!'."

"..." Hiruzen didn't say anything. He just continued to listen intently.

"When I gathered them all, I haven't been so happy and excited all my life. After I saved Amy and beat Eggman, I was going to use them to go back." Naruto continued. "But I...I didn't. It's like...something in my heart kept me from doing it. Like it was telling me not to use them for something as selfish as that. In my head, I wanted to do it but my heart kept telling me no. So...I listened to my heart."

"...I see." Hiruzen smiles softly. "I'm very proud of you for listening to your heart Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked in surprise as he turns to Hiruzen.

"Listen Naruto...time travel, it's a very dangerous thing. When I was your age, Tobirama-sensei, the Second Hokage, told us much about this forbidden ninjutsu art. Of course, the most important is that if one were to change the past, they would also change our future, which is why such a thing is forbidden. If you were to go back and save your parents, you would alter the course of history."

"But wait...isn't that supposed to be good? I mean mom and dad will still be alive!" Naruto said in confusion and in slight anger. Why would it be bad if his parents were alive?

"True, you mother and father would be alive if you were successful, which _is_ good, but think about the cons." Hiruzen said seriously.

"The...cons?" Naruto asked as Hiruzen nodded.

"Think about your squad. Your mission to the Land of Waves. The adventure you had and the friends you've made. All of these events happened because your parents _died_. If you had gone back and saved your parents and alter history, everything that happened _here_ in our timeline, won't happen _there _in the new timeline."

That made Naruto's eyes widen.

"Do you know of the Uchiha Massacre and about Sasuke being the only survivor?" Hiruzen asked.

"Y-Yes..?"

"Well, imagine a world where the Uchiha Clan are _extinct_, meaning that Sasuke also died during that terrifying event, all of this happened while your parents were _alive_?"

Being reminded of Sasuke's corpse during his battle with Haku made Naruto tremble slightly.

"Or worse…" Hiruzen said. "You and Blaze...you two would have probably never met. Either she may have never been born...or she died."

That was the final straw for Naruto as he stood up and glared at Hiruzen in pure fury, a vein pulsing out his forehead.

"NO!" Naruto yells angrily as he grit his teeth. "You're wrong! You...You don't know that!"

What the hell was this old man talking about?! Him not being on Squad 7? Not going to Wave to save everyone and meet Haku and Zabuza? Not meeting Tails and the others? Sasuke dying along with his clan!? Him and Blaze not meeting cause she may not have been born or because she _died_!?

And of all this might happen because his parents would be alive!?

"Exactly." Hiruzen said calmly. "I don't know and you don't know either. Which is _exactly_ why time travel is forbidden and has no place in our world. If we were to change a certain event in our lives, like you going back to prevent your parents fate, then we wouldn't know about the consequences our actions would cause, despite our intentions being good. But it's also to prevent those like Dr. Eggman from doing serious harm to our world."

Naruto grit his teeth. "That's…!" He wanted to deny it. Refuse to believe it! To believe that the old man didn't know what he was talking about. But no matter how much he wanted to, he knew he was right, and that made Naruto sit back down, his head down in sadness. He thought about Iruka, Konohamaru, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Tails, Amy, Knuckles...and Blaze.

Naruto sat down, a sad look on his face. "We can save people from their terrible fate...give them a chance to start over...but at a cost? That's not fair."

Hiruzen nodded his head sadly, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Life is never fair. There's always gonna be a price to pay for one's own happiness."

The two remained silent after that as they just looked at the gravestones.

"There's...there's something I want to ask you." Naruto said, getting the Hokage's attention. "Say I did went back and saved them…would..." He looks at him. "Would they have been happy?"

Hiruzen stared at the expression on Naruto's face. He looked desperate. Desperate to know the answer would be good or not. The old Hokage smiles softly at Naruto before rubbing his head.

"Naruto, I don't think you understand just how much your parents loves you." Hiruzen said with a hearty laugh. "When they found out they were gonna have you, I have never seen Minato nor Kushina so excited in their lives, especially Kushina since she always wanted to have a big family. They wanted to do so many things with you as they watch you grow up to be an amazing shinobi like them. To hold you in their arms when your scared or sad, encourage you whenever you fail at something, train you, celebrate your birthday...everything."

Hiruzen smiles fondly as he remembers the times when Minato and Kushina were alive.

"All of that...proves that your parents _wanted_ to be in your life just as you wanted them to be in yours. But remember this...it's also a parents' job to protect their children from the dangers of the world. Would they be happy if you travel back in time to save them? Well...I don't know the answer to that."

That made Naruto sighed. "Of course…"

"But I do know this…" Naruto perks up as he looked at the happy smile Hiruzen showed. "Your parents would be very happy and _extremely_ proud to know how amazing you turned out to be without them being there for you, even if you traveled back to save them."

Naruto's eyes widened. Hearing the honesty and the sincerity of the old man's tone made his heart swell up in joy. He felt the wind hit him in the back of his head while also sensing a presence behind him, making him slowly look back. A silent gasp escaped his lips.

His father...Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage stood behind him. Next to him, stood a woman with long red hair and violet eyes. She wore a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress with a wristband on her left wrist and standard shinobi sandals.

Naruto noticed the both of them were transparent nd wore smiles on their faces as they stared at him.

"Dad…" Naruto whispered so low, the Third couldn't hear him. Minato's smile widened which made Naruto's eyes move to the red haired woman. "M...Mom…?" Kushina's smile widened as well.

They looked at each other with smiles before turning back to their son only for their smile to vanish when they saw he had stood up and was looking at them with widen eyes...that also had tears falling from them.

They had sad looks on their faces as they watched the tears fall from his eyes. Kushina suddenly hugs him while Minato hugs them both, shocking Naruto slightly but then closed his eyes softly. Despite them being transparent...the Ultimate Ninja could feel their warmth. It felt...nice.

He suddenly began to have visions of his parents being in his life. From teaching him how to walk as a baby, celebrating his birthdays, coming to his graduation. And most of all, all of them sitting at the table enjoying a nice dinner as they hugged each other.

"_Naruto…"_ He heard them whisper his name. They then vanished causing Naruto to open his eyes with more tears falling.

"Mom...d-dad…" Naruto sobs as he fell to his knees. "Don't go…" He felt the Old Man wrap his arm around him, making him lean to him as he cries.

Nearby, Kakashi and Iruka watched the interaction. Both wore sad looks on their faces as they stared at the crying Naruto.

"_Sensei…Kushina…"_ Kakashi thought as he looked down. "_I promise...to keep a close watch on him."_

"_Naruto…"_ Iruka thought sadly as he looks down. It's been ages since he's seen Naruto cry. And yet...despite his cocky, idiotic, egotistical nature, Iruka keeps forgetting one simple fact about Naruto...he still longs to have his parents with him.

Nearby, Hinata Hyuga hid behind the entrance of the cemetery and watched as her crush broke down in tears. Seeing him like that broke her heart as she felt tears of her own swelling up in her eyes

"Naruto…" When she heard Naruto's yell echo throughout the village earlier, she was so happy and relief that he finally came back home. Like everyone else, she was also shocked when she saw him flying that strange machine which made her folllw after him, hidden from his view.

Just now, she saw him picking up flowers and wondered where he was going till she saw he entered the cemetery.

Hinata so desperately wanted to go over there and comfort Naruto. To hug and let him know that he wasn't alone anymore. But it looks like Lord Third beat her to it. She then left, but not before giving one last longing look to Naruto.

"_Someday...I'll stand by you Naruto." _

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**With Blaze**

**Insert Song: The Shining Road [English Version]**

***Instruments***

Blaze was walking through a forest as she headed for the next town. She suddenly stops as she felt something wet slide down her cheek. "Huh?" She touched her cheek and saw it was a teardrop. "W-Why am…" She didn't know why but her heart suddenly felt sad.

Her heart haven't felt like this in a while. In fact, the only time her heart would hurt like this is because…

"Naruto…" The Fire Princess muttered. Whenever Naruto was sad, she would be sad with him but would also cheer him up with a hug. Which also explains why she has the sudden urge to want to hug Naruto. He was calling out to her.

**The world around us is so magical  
But now it's been placed under a spell**

Blaze wiped the tear away. Whatever was wrong with Naruto, he needed her. She has to hurry to the Leaf Village.

"Please wait a little more. I'm almost there." She looks down the road to see a town just ahead of her. She walks the path to the town.

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village**

**My love, come with me** **and together we shall search to find a charm**

**We'll travel to the land of our dreams where forbidden dreams just may come true**

"Haven't been here in awhile." Naruto spoke in a soft tone, he reached into his pocket and took out his lucky charm. "This place hasn't changed one bit...Blaze."

Right now, he was at his and Blaze's secret spot. The **Hill of Friendship**. The hill was covered in grass and had a lone tree sitting up top. There was also a log there which he was sitting on.

After he calmed down, he left the cemetery and made one last stop. That stop was his and Blaze's childhood spot. Their precious Hill of Friendship.

Naruto looks at the setting sun with a smile. That's another thing about this spot, it had the best view of the sunset.

**When we're alone tomorrow, we will sneak away and secretly meet**

**Up on top of a hill, where there are birds everywhere and we can be all alone**

"I wonder what you're doing now Blaze." Naruto reached his hand out towards the sun, seeing young Blaze's smiling face appearing on it before she vanished. "Are you looking up at the sunset too?"

* * *

Blaze was now in town as she watched many people walk past her. She was sitting on the roof of a building she was staying at. She saw so much smiling faces as she watched families going out together and children chasing each other.

She then looks up at the sunset, seeing young Naruto's smiling face, making a soft smile appear as she reached her hand out to him before he vanished.

**I know someday, I'll hold your hand. While we sit alone in the morning mist**

**And the seal in our way, of our shining road will be broken**

"Are you looking at this sunset as well Naruto? From our favorite spot?" Blaze asked before setting her hand down. "It truly is beautiful isn't it?" She slowly closed her eyes.

She didn't know why but she felt her hand suddenly get warm. And it wasn't her powers that was doing it. It was a special kind of warmth, one that's familiar to her.

It was almost as if someone was holding the top of her hand in theirs and she immediately knew who it was. She opens her eyes and looks next to her, seeing a glowing transparent young Naruto with his eyes closed and a smile present. He opens them and looked her way, giving her a big happy smile.

"_Naruto…" _

* * *

"_Blaze…"_ Naruto said with his eyes closed. He could feel he was holding her hand. "_No matter how far away we are...the bond that we share...it lets me know that you're okay. That you're right next to me."_

He opens his eyes and looked right next to him, to see a glowing transparent young Blaze as she looks at him with a smile.

"_Am I right?"_ Naruto asked the transparent young Blaze causing her to smile wider as she nodded her head.

''_Yes, you are…"_ Naruto heard her say but in an older voice, which made him smile a toothy grin.

They turn back and looks at the sunset.

**Till the end of time**

At the same time on both ends, the transparents disappear and neither of them didn't notice their lucky charms were glowing.

* * *

**Later**

"Tails! I'm back!" Naruto said with a yawn as he entered his apartment. It was now dark outside with the moon rising and shining down on the village. "Man I didn't think I would fall...asleep?

He trailed his sentence off as he saw Tails was sleeping on the table with many tools and such around him. He also noticed a small bed that was next to his. The bed itself was in the shape of airplane. Naruto smiles softly as he picked Tails and laid him on the blow up bed.

"Good night Tails. And welcome to your new home." He whispered. He instantly changed into his pajamas, turnt off the lights and fell asleep.

Hours passed as both snored softly. However, red bubbly chakra suddenly came out from Naruto's stomach which made him groan slightly. The red chakra moved across from Naruto and traveled from his bed to the smaller bed, heading for it's target.

The chakra touched Tails' hand, making him groan in confusion, as it soon began to travel across his whole body, leaving only his head exposed. The malicious chakra soon travel began to cover his face, just as Tails' eyes snapped open and he released a gasp.

* * *

**?**

Tails gasped out in shock. He took steady breaths before he calmed down. He then looks up and blinked in confusion.

"Huh? Where am I?" He asked. He looks around and saw he was in a hallway. The hallway itself looks like an old sewerage place. "Is this...a dream?" Why would he be dreaming of being in a sewer of all places?

"**...Come..." **

Tails jumped from the deep male voice that echoed throughout the hall he was in. "Huh?! W-Who said that!?" He asked fearfully as he looked around.

"**Come..." **Tails trembled as the voice spoke again. "**Come to me…"**

"A...Are you d-down there?" Tails asked in whispered as he stared at the dark hall.

…no response.

Tails was nervous. He had no idea where he was at and a deep scary voice just told him to come meet him. With no other choice, he let out a moan of displeasure as he walks to the hall, holding one of his taila for comfort. After going through some passageways, he found himself in a large open area.

"Huh? What's this?" Tails asked curiously as he looks around the open space, walking out to the middle of it before stopping. "Is that a cage?"

In front of him was largest cage he has ever seen before. The bars of the cage are far enough apart for him to walk between them. The cage's doors are secured by a sheet of parchment with a japanese letter on it.

"What's this cage for?" Tails asked scratching his head in confusion. He walks up to the cage, looking up at it in awe. "Whoa...I wonder what's in here." He looks inside the darkness of the cage. He didn't know why but something in his gut was telling him to run away and fast. Still, he wanted to know what was in there.

So with a new resolve, Tails slowly enters the cage, going past the bars. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" He bump into something making step back. "Ah!" He raised his hands in front of him to try and feel what he bumped into and what he felt was- "Is this...fur and a...a mouth?"

A deep breath of air was suddenly released, which blew Tails' hair back and also made him go stiff, his eyes widen in fear. He could feel and hear his heart beating his chest at an alarming rate. He slowly looks up, trembling all the way with a look of fear on his face. He let out a startled yell as he saw large glowing red eyes, with a slit pupil, staring at him.

"**Well, well...you've found me boy."**

Tails couldn't scream. No matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn't scream. He couldn't even feel his legs, thereby he couldn't run away. He just continued to stare at the eyes with scared eyes as it looked at him.

"**How nice to meet finally meet you face-to-face...Tails." **The being said, shocking Tails that it knew his name. "**Yes. I can feel it. My chakra, my essence, my very **_**blood**_ **flows through you. However, it is only half of it, which means the other must've come from a **_**human**_ **female, one that you were born from."**

The being let out a growl of anger, making Tails tremble fearfully as the being seems to glare at him. "**Humans. They always find new ways for me to hate them even more than I already do. First, they forcibly sealed me inside of them **_**multiple**_ **times. Now, somehow, someway, they **_**stole**_ **a piece of me and **_**experimented**_ **on it! Using it to create you!"**

"H-huh?" Tails' eyes widen in confusion. What's this being talking about?

"**You have no idea how special you are boy."** The being said. "**You are the first of your very own species. A hybrid of something that's impossible to exist, yet here you are right in front of me. However…"**

In a poof of smoke, Tails' human form was replaced by his fox form, shocking him.

"Eh? Wha-?!" The fox boy looked at himself before looking up at the giant being. "How did you do that!?"

"**This form irritates me."** The being said ignoring Tails' question. "**It reminds me too much of those annoying **_**rats**_**!"**

The being's entire body was then surrounded by a red sinister looking aura. The sight of it made Tails step back as he could see the being's outline along with a row of razor sharp teeth.

"**I can also sense it. The power you inherited from me hasn't **_**truly**_ **awaken yet. Well, we'll just have to fix both these problems, won't we?"** The being asked.

Tails looked confused by that before he felt something touch his feet. He looks down and saw something red and bubbly, scaring him slightly. The red bubbles lifted Tails upward as the being watched it's bring him closer to it. The being then stood in full height, making the transformed fox cub look up at it fearfully

The being chuckled as it watched its chakra consume Tails. "**Oh yes. I don't know nor do I **_**care**_ **about what happened to your **_**human**_** mother. She may as well be dead. But **_**you**_ **don't have to worry about that."** It showed a grin as it saw Tails' eyes turn red with slit pupils and his teeth turned into fangs, just as the chakra covered him fully and his form begins to alter itself. "**Because **_**I**_ **am here. And you boy…"**

Tails had his eyes closed tightly as he was in a whole lot of pain even though he didn't let out a scream or yell. He could feel _something_ happening to his body as he heard bones cracking and his form stretching. He felt his gloves were ripped to shreds as his hands turns to claws and his shoes melted off with his feet turned into claws as well.

He also felt himself getting a little taller and his twintails stretching out. If he were to look at himself in a mirror, he would see black fur around his eyes and small fangs coming out his mouth.

He weakly opened his newly colored eyes before they suddenly went wide as he got a clear view of what was behind the cage and who was talking to him.

It was a giant fox! It has red-orange fur with black fur around its eyes that stretches to its ears, red irises with black slits for pupils and the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands.

He also noticed the nine long swiping tails that it had.

"Wha…?" Tails asked in a whisper as the giant fox brought its hands near him as though he was shielding him.

"**You are my first legacy."** The fox said as it brought its clawed hands together, smashing Tails between them, while also making a bright light appear.

* * *

**Reality**

Tails woke up with a startled gasp. He looks around frantically, hoping everything was a dream. He sighed heavily in relieve as he saw he was in Naruto's apartment. His eyes widen as he looked at his arms before sighing in relief, seeing he's human.

He also noticed he was on his bed before looking next to him to see Naruto sleeping on his bed. He fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

"What a scary dream." Tails said. He still remembered what the giant fox with nine tails said to him. He sat up, looking a little worried. "It was a dream...right?"

Just as he was about to fall back to sleep, his eyes suddenly felt itchy. He rubs them for a bit before he opened them back up. But unknown to him, his irises has turned red with his pupil becoming a slit. He fell back to his bed, just as his eyes returned to normal, before closing his eyes letting sleep consume him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay, I know I said the chapter was going to be short, but I had a crazy ton of ideas for this and just let it all out here. I didn't even realize how many words I had till after I finished it.

But anyway, how do you guys like Tails' new background and his relationship with the Nine-Tails? Since he's been reborn into this world, his background has to be similar yet very different from before in Sonic's World. I mean, a human with animal features isn't exactly common in most worlds except for fantasy worlds and worlds like RWBY.

As for the Nine-Tails and Tails' relationship...yes they are father and son in this universe, though Tails doesn't realize it...yet.

Also, how do you guys like the drama bit of this chapter? Bet you weren't expecting that huh? Hope you guys enjoyed it. Remember to R&R!


	12. Ultimate 11

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 2: Far Away [English Version]**

***Instruments***

Squad 7 is seen staring at the sunset with Blaze, Tails, Amy and Knuckles there with them.

Naruto turns around and grins as he tossed a Chaos Emerald at the viewers before the title appears on it:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Let's hit the gas, it's time to go  
There is no need to hesitate no more**

**We are going on our way**

Naruto is on top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head as he looks up at the sky. Sonic, Shadow and Silver briefly appeared behind him, looking up as well, before they vanished.

Naruto had a surprised expression for a moment as he felt Tails jump on his shoulder. He looks back and saw Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke and Sakura behind him, looking at the two with smiles on their faces.

Naruto grins back at them.

**I might regret it it the end  
But I don't care how long we have to wait**

**We will live it day by day**

Images appear: One is Naruto is doing a pose from the Sonic Adventure 2 cover. The second is Tails waving happily to the readers. The third is Sasuke in an attack pose. The fourth is Sasuke and Sakura standing back-to-back. The last is Kakashi looking at the readers while reading his book.

The scene changes to show them standing in front of a camera. The camera flashes as Naruto and Tails appears in front of it, making goofy faces, much to Sasuke and Sakura's irritation while Kakashi looked at them.

The camera flashes again, this time showing Sakura punching Naruto upside the head, while Sasuke grabbed Tails by his twins and looked at him in annoyance, making Tails smile sheepishly.

The final shot is Squad 7 together, smiling.

**Open up your heart now**

**Pull your loved ones closer**

**Everything will be alright!**

Team Guy makes an appearance together, along with Squad 10 and Squad 8.

An artwork of Kabuto appears, smiling back at the viewers.

The Proctors of the Chunin Exams, Kurenai, Guy, Asuma and the Third Hokage appears.

Conquering Storm appears with her back turned and looking over her shoulder, a cold half-lidded expression on her face.

**I can promise you that…**

**Your feelings will get far~!**

**FAR~!**

Team Sand appears, before Kankuro and Temari disappear leaving Gaara by himself.

Naruto and Sasuke appear behind Gaara, in the background, as he motions his hands up, making sand cover the screen.

Naruto and Sasuke appear in a pitch black space. The camera moves to Sasuke as eyes, similar to a snake, appears above him.

***Instruments***

Naruto is lying down on the grass, staring up at the night sky. He sits up and his eyes widen as he saw Blaze, her back turned to him. Just as a black and purple mist, that has purple electricity, suddenly appears, she turns around and smiles at him. Just as Naruto reached out to her, and she vanished within the mist.

He calls out to her before he got consumed by the mist. Naruto screams as the mist enters his body before he snapped his eyes open, revealing that they are now slitted green.

**So hurry up now!**

**And let it all out!****  
**

Conquering Storm, Neji and Lee are seen in fighting stances. Gaara has his arms crossed.

Naruto and the Masked Boy are seen glaring down at each other.

**Though my legs might hurt**

**I know I'll make it far**

**'Cause I will fight 'till the end!  
**

Knuckles is on Angel Island looking at the sky as the wind blows past his face. Tails is looking up fearfully at a large cage

Sasuke attacks Zaku at the Preliminary Round.

Blaze attacks a Shinobi as she sent him flying and burning in pain.

Naruto appears, in Nine-Tails mode, as he gives a yell at the viewers.

**I'm getting closer!**

**I know I'll get there!**

Amy, Sakura and Ino are seen standing back-to-back with Cherry Blossoms falling in the background.

The left side of Orochimaru's face appears as Sasuke's silhouette is on the right and he's gaining purple marks on his neck. Dr. Eggman Nega briefly appeared, grinning evilly as a screen appeared in the reflection of his glasses.

The right side of the Nazo's face appears as Naruto's feral face appears on the other side, though his sclera is green and his skin begins to turn pale blue.

**No matter what the cost**

**If you are there I know**

**That I'll arrive!**

Back at the arena, Naruto falls back. He looks back up and glares at Nazo as he brung a "Bring it" motion with his hand.

**I'm going far away...**

Naruto's whole body suddenly gained a neon-blue aura coating his body. He gave out a yell and a blue flash appeared.

***Instruments***

Blaze is on top of the entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village. She stares out at the village, holding her Lucky Charm, before she jumps down and runs off to where Naruto is.

The camera backs away from Naruto's serious expression and shows Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, The Rookie Nine, Team Guy, Team Sand and Conquering Storm.

* * *

**Ultimate 11: The Beginning of the Chunin Exams!**

**Chapter Cover:** Inside their apartment home, Tails is working on an invention with Naruto looking over a scroll, a comical concentrated look on his face.

* * *

Naruto yawned loudly as he felt the sun hitting his face. He got out of bed and tiredly walked past Tails, who was sleeping on the couch, with a few gadgets and tools around him. He took out a bread from his cabinet and jelly out of his fridge, along with a carton of milk.

Naruto put the jelly on his bread and took a big bite out of it. He was going to drink the milk put paused for a moment as he recalled what happened the last time he drank milk.

Needless to say, he's been in the bathroom all day.

He put the milk next to his ear and shook it. He sighed tiredly as he slammed his head on the table.

"I need to find a new place for us to live. Along with finding a better hiding place for the Tornado." Naruto mumbled. He looks up thoughtfully. "I wonder if mom and dad's old house is still around."

Later on, after getting a nice hot shower and waking Tails up, the two got cleaned and was outside the apartment room. Naruto locked the door and slapped his cheeks before grinning.

"Alright! Ready to start the day Tails?"

Tails' head popped out of the big red backpack that Naruto had on. "You bet I am!"

"Then let's do it to it!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran and jumped over the railing.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura are seen at the bridge waiting for Naruto and Kakashi. Sakura had her arms crossed and had an annoyed look on her face, while Sasuke was leaning on the rail with his arms crossed also. They soon heard footsteps coming on the bridge and they turned to it and saw it was Naruto, with his brown bag on his back.

"Morning." Naruto greeted them, but soon stopped and glared at Sasuke, who was glaring back. "Sasuke..."

"Naruto..."

Sakura stood between the two and before she know it, they turned away from each other while giving off an 'Hmph' sound, causing the pink haired girl to have a deadpanned expression.

_"Good grief, not again. They've been at it since Naruto came back. It's like being stuck with a couple of children."_ She thought.

_**"CHA! Hurry up Kakashi-Sensei!"**_

Sasuke noticed the red backpack on Naruto and had an annoyed expression. He walks up behind Naruto and opened his bag, ignoring his protest.

"I knew it." He reached inside and took Tails out, who immediately pretended to be a doll. Sasuke had a deadpanned expression on his face. "Why do you still have this stupid toy?"

"Oi! He's not stupid!" Naruto immediately snatched Tails back and glared at Sasuke comically. "And I already told you, Tails is like a lucky charm! He's been helping me out during my adventures, and I will not have you or anyone else disrespect him like that!"

"It's a stuffed animal." Sasuke deadpanned before he scoffed. "And you call yourself the World's Ultimate Ninja? More like an Ultimate Baby."

"Oi!" Naruto tossed Tails to Sakura, who was surprised for a moment but managed to catch him. "Who you callin an Ultimate Baby!?"

"_There they go again."_ Sakura deadpanned. "I swear these two are unbelievable. Right Tails?" She smiled at the little 'toy' in her arms as she giggled and hugged him closer to her chest.

Tails blinked multiple times before he sweat drops at Naruto and Sasuke arguing._ "Talk about deja vu..."_ He thought to himself as he recalled how Naruto and Knuckles always fought.

…

…

...

An hour has passed and Squad 7 were still waiting on Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke had stopped arguing a while ago, both having annoyed expressions as they continued to wait on their sensei. Sakura had a tired expression as she sat on the bridge. Tails was back inside Naruto's bag and he was sleeping.

"Hey guys, good morning." Kakashi said appearing in a swirl of leaves. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the path to life."

"WHAAAT!" Sakura screamed which made Tails wake up in surprise as he gave a shout.

"..." Everyone turns to look at Naruto, with confused expressions, who quickly covered his mouth.

"What? She caught me off guard!" Naruto chuckled sheepishly, making Sasuke and Sakura raise eyebrows at him.

"Hm. I see." Kakashi eye smiled. He already knew that Tails was inside the bag and was the one who screamed.

"Anyway! C'mon Sensei! Let's get going with the missions already! And I want these to be a challenge!" Naruto exclaimed as he did a few punching motions. "I need to get in top shape just in case Baldy McNosehair plans on showing his face again or send any of his Badniks down here! God damn, I'm all fired up!"

Kakashi sweat dropped as he saw a fiery aura around Naruto. "Okay. Okay. Cool it hotshot." The aura vanished.

"Naruto, would you quit being annoying?" Sakura asked, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Nope!" Naruto said as he pointed at Sakura's nose, much to her annoyance. "I've been gone for weeks and I already feel like you guys have been going on fun missions without me. And after my fight with Eggman, I'm ready to take on any challenge! So c'mon Kakashi, let's get started!"

"Alright. Alright." Kakashi pat Naruto's head. "But remember Naruto, you just came back from your...vacation the other day. After what happened on our supposed C-Rank mission along with you disappearing, Lord Third thought it would be best to go back to doing D-Rank missions."

**Crack!**

Naruto had turned into a statue, with cracks all over his body and a disbelief expression on his face. He got into a crouch position and was rubbing the bridge with his finger.

"How lame. I got excited over nothing."

The Team stared at Naruto with sweat drops running down their heads. Kakashi coughed and got everyone's attention.

"Right. Let's begin with today's missions."

* * *

**Later**

"Thank God, this day is over and done with!" Naruto exclaimed as he walked alone by wooden fences. "I hope this is the last time we do D-Rank missions."

Earlier, they had to pull bushes outside of someone's house, with Naruto rushing in and pulling it all out, including the grass, and he ended up getting chased around by the owner of the house. Then they had to walk people's dogs with Naruto getting the bigger one while the others had smaller ones, and he used his ESP to hold it as it tried to go through a landmine field.

And finally, they had to get fish for some lazy farmer, with Naruto running around the lake really fast, forming a water tornado and making it rain around the area and fish fall on everyone's head with Naruto looking proud at his work, while Sakura and Sasuke looked annoyed by the action. Kakashi himself wasn't even around when it happened but he did happen to see the falling fish.

After that, Kakashi called it a day, silently saying that they needed more teamwork...and that Naruto needed to learn to be patient and to slow it down.

"Hey Tails. You alright?" Naruto asked as Tails' head popped out from the bag.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, Sakura surprised me." He said sheepishly.

"Nah. It's cool. Sakura got a big mouth on her." Naruto joked as Tails laughed a little. He was gonna say something else before he sensed someone was starting to follow him. "Tails get back inside. Hurry."

"Oh! Right!" Tails ducked his head back inside.

Naruto quickly turns around and what he saw made him sweat drop in disbelief as a deadpanned expression appeared on his face.

"Are you kidding me?" That made Tails take a peek and he blinked in confusion.

There following the two of them was a box drawn to look like rocks. It had two peak holes.

"Um...Naruto? There's rocks with holes following us." Tails whispered as he didn't want whoever it was hiding in that box to hear him.

"I got this." Naruto whispered back, before looking at the "rocks". "Konohamaru, that's the lamest disguise I've ever saw in my life."

"You saw through my disguise again! Just what I'd expect from my greatest rival!" Konohamaru exclaimed as the box started to glow yellow.

**POOF POOF POOF!**

Purple, green, and yellow smokes are seen in the air. Naruto looked down, a half-lidded expressions on his face, and saw that the box disappeared out of thin air and in it's replacement were Konohamaru and his two friends, Udon and Moegi.

The three kids were coughing out of the smoke that was now in their mouths.

"I think we used a little too much gun powder you guys." Konohamaru coughed.

"..." Naruto continued to stare at them blankly but he did use his hand to wipe the smoke out of his face. "What are you three doing?"

That caught the children's attention as they stared at Naruto.

"Well?"

"I'm Moegi, the sassiest Kunoichi in pre-school check me out!" Moegi introduced herself doing a pose. "Meow!"

"I love algebra call me Udon!" Udon introduced himself doing a pose.

"And I'm the number 1 Ninja of the Village, Konohamaru!" Konohamaru introduced himself doing a pose. "And when we're all together..."

"We're the **Konohamaru Ninja Squad**!" The trio exclaimed.

…

...

Tails looked up from within the bag and had an awe expression on his face as he stared at the older children in front of him. _"So cool~!_" He thought. Being a ninja sounds like it's a lot of fun!

"Cute." Naruto commented. Well, it looks like these three are gonna be a great Genin team in the future. He then noticed the kids, wearing the goggles he used to wear a while back. "What are you guys wearing? Those goggles?"

"Well duh!" Konohamaru exclaimed, showing Naruto the goggles. "You wore these when we first met, so we're copying you!"

"Uh-huh." Naruto put his arms behind his head. "So what's up?"

"Huh!? Don't tell me you forgot boss!" Konohamaru said in shock. "You promised that we would play ninja today, come on!"

Naruto blinked as he looked up in thought. "Oh yeah. I did promise you that didn't I?"

"_Playing...ninja?"_ Tails thought. He never heard of people playing Ninja, it must be a fun game, especially if you're playing with a _real_ awesome ninja like Naruto!

"Ugg...a ninja playing ninja that is so twisted." A depressed voice said.

Naruto and the kids turned to the voice and saw it was Sakura looking down in the dumps.

"What's wrong with you Sakura?" Naruto asked before a smirk appeared on his face. "No wait let me guess: Either you tried to ask Sasuke out and he rejected you or he already left the moment I did."

"Shut up." Sakura growled, making the smirk grow bigger as Naruto wrapped his arm around her.

"Hey hey. No need to be upset, I'm sure the reason he keeps rejecting you is because he probably has a secret girlfriend that no one knows about." Naruto shrugged.

Sakura froze as she heard that. "S-secret…" Her eyes widened as tears gathered in her eyes. "G-G-GIRLFRIEND!?"

The kids watched as Sakura cried in despair and denial, while Naruto chuckled in amusement. Even they couldn't see it, Tails popped out and stared at Sakura with a sweat drop before he quickly ducked down as the kids turned their attention to Naruto.

"Hey Boss. Do you know this girl?" Moegi asked.

"Yeah. She's one of my teammates." Naruto shrugged.

"Oh I get it." Konohamaru smirked coyly as he elbowed, Naruto's leg, staring up at him. "You're a smooth operator Boss."

"Huh? What are you going on about?" Naruto asked in complete confusion. What was this kid talking about now?

"Is she your..." Konohamaru held his pinky out. "Girlfriend?"

"Hell no. Were you not paying attention to what I said?" Naruto asked, staring at him with a half-lidded expression.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean look at the size of her forehead." Konohamaru said.

The temperature dropped to below 0 degrees. Everyone slowly turned their attention to Sakura and saw that her hair were shadowing her eyes but she had a fire-like aura around her. The kids looked scared and Tails didn't even want to come out of the book bag to look at Sakura. Naruto however just sighed in exasperation.

"Damn it Konohamaru." Naruto whispered as Sakura began to crack her knuckles. "RUN AWAY!" The four ran away with Sakura chasing after them, an evil comical grin on her face.

Tails peeked outside and gave a yell in fright as he saw Sakura chasing after them along with that evil look on her face.

"S-S-Scary!" Tails ducked down in the bag. Sakura looked like a nice girl too! He had no idea she was so scary!

"HEY!"

Everyone stopped running as Konohamaru bumped into someone and he fell on the ground. They looked at the person whom he bumped into when they saw two teens, whom they never saw in their village.

One of the teens, whom Konohamaru bumped into, is a boy. He wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wears a black hood which covered his head completely, and had cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead. He also had a triangular face-paint design.

The second teen is a girl. She has teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which is gathered into four consecutive pigtails. Her outfit consists of a single light purple-coloured, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her black forehead protector around her neck.

"Who…" Naruto and Sakura looks at their forehead protectors and saw the symbol for Sand on them. Sakura had a look of confusion while Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"You better watch where you're going little brat!" The older boy told him as he grabbed Konohamaru by his shirt.

"LET ME GO YOU BASTARD!" Konohamaru shouted.

"Kankuro we don't have time for this. Put the kid down before he get in trouble." The girl told him.

"Just a sec, Temari. I want to teach this brat a lesson." Kankuro grinned, before he blinked as the kid vanished in his hand. "Hey, where the hell did he-?"

"Ahem!"

Kankuro looked and saw the kid was being held by Naruto as he stared at him with a disappointed look on his face. He looked at his hand and back at Naruto.

"_How did he do that without me noticing?" _

"Dude, didn't your parents ever teach you to not pick on little kids?" Naruto asked as he dropped Konohamaru on the ground, earning a "Hey!" from him, which he ignored. He sighed dramatically. "They must really be ashamed to know that their son is a big bully."

"What was that?" Kankuro growled.

"Did I stutter?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. "See, I hate bullies. And you know what I do to bullies?" He cracked his knuckles. "I beat the living the hell out of them!"

"Is that so?" Kankuro asked mockingly as he pulled forth a bandaged apparatus from behind his back. "Well you're the kind of pesky snot I hate the most, all bark and no bite."

Naruto took his backpack off and sat it by the fence wall, taking a stance as his eyes narrowed dangerously along with a smirk on his face. "Wanna test that little theory?"

"Let's." Kankuro smirked.

"Uh-oh…" Tails whispered as he watched with anticipation, silently happy that Naruto took the backpack off, so he can see him in action.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, only to get ignored.

"Yeah! Get him Boss!" Konohamaru cheered while Udon and Moegi hid behind him.

"Wait Kankuro! You're not gonna use the Crow are you?!" Temari asked in alarm, feeling that her brother was about to go too far.

"The runt just pissed me off. I'm gonna make him-ARGH!" Kankuro gave a yell as he felt a rock hit his hand hard, making him release whatever it was that he had. The Sand Ninja quickly rubbed his hand to ease the pain.

Naruto whistled in amazement at the accuracy. He turns to the direction it came from. "Nice shot Sasuke."

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

All eyes went to Sasuke, who sat on a tree branch, tossing a rock in his hand.

"Sasuke it's you!" Sakura said happily.

"_Hmm...talk about good looking."_ Temari thought as she stared up at him.

"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league." Sasuke crushed the rock into dust. "Get lost."

"Welp." Naruto shrugged his shoulders, turning to Kankuro. "You heard the man."

Kankuro's face turn red from anger and embarrassment. He just got shown up twice! _Twice_! By Genin that were younger than him! That's it! He is-

"That's enough, Kankuro." A voice said a few feet from Sasuke, sending a chill down the Uchiha's spine along with everyone else.

When everyone looked at the voice they saw a boy with dark circles around his eyes, auburn hair, and a kanji on his forehead standing upside down on a tree branch. He also carried a large gourd on his back.

He wears a black bodysuit with an open neck, t-shirt-like sleeves, and almost full-length leggings. With this, he wears a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips. He has a wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip with which he carries his sand gourd and around which he wraps his forehead protector.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Naruto asked himself.

"O-Oh um...hey Gaara." Kankuro greeted him nervously.

"Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic. You're a disgrace to our village." The redhead continued. "Why do you think we came here in the first place?"

"B-But, G-Garra, th-they started it." Kankuro stuttered, he and his sister's eyes showing obvious fear, something which Naruto noticed as his eyes narrowed at the redhead.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." The redhead ordered, surprising everyone that he could treat his own teammates like that.

_"To sneak up on me like that... that's Kakashi level stealth."_ Sasuke thought, staring suspicious at the auburn teen.

_"I didn't even sense him. That guy...is definitely dangerous."_ Naruto thought seriously.

The Sand Genin disappeared in a swirl of sand and reappeared in front of his teammates. "My apologies for the trouble he caused." He turns to leave. "Let's go."

"Hey! Wait a second!" Sakura called out, making them stop and turn to her. "I saw your headbands and noticed you had the Sand symbol, meaning you're from the Village Hidden by Sand, right?"

"Yeah. What of it?" Temari asked.

"Well, what exactly are Shinobi from another village doing here?" Sakura asked.

Temari sent her a condescending look on her face. "Don't you know anything?" She asked back as she took out a pass. "We're here for the Chunin Exams."

"Chunin Exams?" Naruto crossed his arms as he looks at them. "Never heard of it, ya know?"

"Oh I know alright." Temari smirked. "I know you guys are so slow."

Naruto twitched his eyebrow in annoyance. Hey, he's been gone for days! It's not his fault that he doesn't know what's going on around here.

"The Chunin Exams is a test to test the ability of Genin." Temari replied. "If a Genin performs very well in the exams then they'll be be promoted to Chunin."

"Really? If you three are here, then that means we'll see foreign shinobi from other villages here." Naruto said before an excited smile appeared on his face. "Heh! That sounds like fun!"

"If that's all we're done here." Gaara said emotionlessly.

"Wait, you with the gourd." Sasuke told him, getting his attention. "What's your name?"

"**Gaara of the Desert**." Gaara introduced himself. "I am also interested in your name."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto grins and points his thumb at himself. "And I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage and the Ultimate Ninja! Remember it!"

Gaara turns to Naruto. "I couldn't care any less." Was the last thing he said, before he turned on his heel and walked away with his team.

"_Well screw you too buddy."_ Naruto thought with a half lidded expression.

"We're gonna have to watch out for that guy." Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes.

Naruto nodded, a serious look on his face. "Yeah. Something feels off about him."

"I-I think we should stay away from them. They seem really dangerous." Sakura said fearfully.

A smirk crossed Sasuke's lips, "Yeah right, I think I wanna see just what they're capable of."

"These Chūnin Exams sounds fun!" Naruto fist bumped in excitement. "About time we got some challenge! Now I wanna join in on the fun!"

_"Oh brother."_ Sakura grimaced. Something told her these upcoming exams were going to be a bumpy ride.

"Hmmm…" Tails said silently. He has been silent as the whole time as he listened in on the conversation.

That boy...that Gaara made the furs on his body stand on end and he wanted to stay away from him as possible. There was something...wrong about him. If they were more scary people like him in these exams, that means that this Chunin Exam is gonna be dangerous!

And Naruto definitely looks excited about it, meaning that he might ask Kakashi-sensei to see if he could get them to join. He gulped nervously as he shook in fear.

"_Oh boy..."_ He thought to himself.

* * *

**Hokage's Office**

A meeting was being held in the Hokage's Office. Every leading Jonin was called in to discuss… a rather important event that would be taking place in the village after the next few days.

Hiruzen sat at his desk, crystal ball placed in the center of it. Every Jonin in the village stood in front of the Fire Shadow. "As you can tell, I have summoned you all here for a very important purpose. I assume you all know what this is about?"

"So soon? I thought we'd have a little more time." Kakashi said, more to himself than anyone else. He had no idea it would be time already, especially since Naruto just came back.

Asuma pulled the cigarette from his mouth before he spoke, "I take it all the other lands have been notified as well. I've seen some of their Genin have been roaming the village."

"And? When do we start?" Kurenai asked.

Hiruzen blew a trail of smoke from his mouth, "Take heed, exactly seven days from today, on the first day of July, the Genin will be gathered and tested. Only the very best will be selected as Chunin." Every Jōnin nodded as a response. "Now, it is time we chose our candidates for the Chūnin Examination. Will the three responsible for the Rookie Genin, please step forward."

Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi all stepped forward at the same time.

"What do you say? Are there any in your Squads that you recommend, despite their inexperience? As you know, any Genin that has carried out 8 or more missions is technically eligible for these examinations. Beyond that, only you can decide when they are ready. Of course, most Genin require a longer training period, at least twice that many." The man's eyes trailed to Kakashi to start. "What do you say?"

"I lead Squad 7; Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki. I, Kakashi Hatake, recommend these three for the Chūnin Selection Examinations."

Iruka's eyes widened in shock. How could Kakashi recommend his team with that kind of inexperience like that? Especially with Naruto just coming back home from his adventures? He hoped that Kurenai and Asuma weren't planning the same thing.

"I lead Squad 8; Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga. I, Kurenai Yuhi, recommend all three."

"I lead Squad 10; Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara. I, Asuma Sarutobi, recommend my Genin as well."

Iruka had heard enough. "Now wait a minute!" He stepped forward, getting the Jounins attention. "Lord Hokage, with all due respect, the nine names listed were all my students for years. I know their skills better than anyone. They need more experience before they are tested. If they try now they are doomed to fail."

"I became a Chūnin at the age of 6." Kakashi said matter of factly. "I was actually 7 years younger than Naruto is now."

"Naruto is nothing like you!" Iruka barked. He stepped forward. "Are you trying to destroy him?"

"No, but it seems that you already forgot about Naruto's little 'vacation' where he had to travel to _three_ unknown islands and a _planet_ to stop a mad scientist from taking over our world, by trying to use power sources we never heard of before _by himself_." Kakashi stated. "And let's not forget about this 'Masked Boy' that sent Naruto away in the first place and is still out there somewhere doing who knows what."

Iruka's eyes widened as he looked down. Of course he hasn't forgotten about that! But still...this wasn't a mad scientist he was talking about here! This was the Chunin Exam! One where older and more experienced Genin participate in order to become Chunin! Not only that but some of them also die in these exams!

"That alone is prove enough that Naruto is ready to handle any challenge that comes his way, especially when it has something to do with people like Dr. Nega, who wants to either rule the world or destroy it for their own selfish reasons." Kakashi continued. "Besides, Naruto himself told me earlier that he's ready to do more challenging and harder missions so he can be ready in case Nega ever shows his face again." Kakashi's lone eye narrows. "Including the Masked Boy. Maybe wiping out on the exams will teach Naruto a lesson. A little pain is good after all."

"Wh-What did you say?" Iruka said in disbelief.

"It's not like I meant anything fatal of course. But seriously Iruka, relax. I know how you feel, this is very personal for you and it upsets you but-"

"Alright Kakashi, back off. You've said enough." Kurenai said.

"On the contrary Kurenai. I think Iruka needs to hear this. He needs to realize they're not his students anymore. They're mine."

Kurenai sighed in defeat. Kakashi had a point. Iruka obviously knew that as he was brought speechless, the only thing him being able to do was grit his teeth in anger.

Hiruzen sighed. "You have both made your point. Accordingly I have decided that the best thing to do is hold a preliminary test."

"P-Preliminary test?" said Iruka.

* * *

**Next Day**

Squad 7 was waiting impatiently on a small bridge built upon a stream. Sasuke leaned against the orange railing while Naruto was lying down a bored and annoyed expression on his face. Sakura paced back and forth, with Tails in her arms, only growing angrier as time went by.

"Aaaahhhh!" Sakura screeched, unaware of Tails' ear twitching a little in pain. "Why is he always setting times and we have to wait hours for it!?"

"Yup." Naruto agreed.

"What about my feelings, I didn't even have time to blow dry my hair this morning!" Sakura shot at Naruto.

"And I didn't even have time to eat my snacks!" Naruto shot back.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at them._ "It's this early in the morning and they're already driving me nuts."_ He groaned in his head.

Tails blinked as he looked at everyone and he couldn't help but sweat drop. _"I wonder why Kakashi-sensei is always late."_

Footsteps brought everyone's attention to the end of the bridge, "Hi guys!" Kakashi's said with an eye smile, "Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the road to life."

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura roared, making the Jounin wiggle his ear in discomfort.

"I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended the three of you for the Chunin Exams." He passed forward three slips of paper. "Here are the application forms."

Naruto quickly hugged Kakashi and spun around, much to his dismay. "Alriiiight! Kakashi-sensei you rock!" He let him go and stared at the application with stars in his eyes.

Kakashi quickly shook his head and turned to his students. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the Academy five days from now. The time is at 3 P.M."

"Okay! Later guys! I got training to do!" Naruto quickly grabbed Tails and ran off, making a cloud of dirt appear.

"Well, someone is awfully excited." Kakashi sweat dropped along with Sasuke and Sakura.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Tanzaku Town**

Blaze is in a restaurant, drinking warm tea. She just made it to Tanzaku Town and had taken temporarily residence here. This town was much different from Silene Town as it was much more lively and filled with adults.

But the reason why it was filled with adults is because of the many gambling opportunities it has.

She looks outside and saw many people cheering out as they were playing a game of dice, making her shake head.

"A town that's filled with gambling? If Tsunade was here, she would no doubt lose whatever money she had on her person." Blaze said to herself as she took a sip from her tea. She looks to side before she tensed up as she saw adult women walking around, some having big chests while others had chests that could rival Tsunade's.

She growled from that, even more so as she saw them bounce with each step they took. The Fire Princess closed her eyes in annoyance when she heard some comments from men. She sat her tea down, stood up and walked away from the restaurant.

"Just for two nights." Blaze muttered. "Just for two nights and I'll be gone from this crazy town. Hopefully nothing strange happens."

She stopped walking when she heard perverse giggling. She looks up in confusion and saw a man staring at something.

The man was tall and well-built with fair skin. He had a wart on the left side of his nose and waist-length, spiky white hair that he ties back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes which extended further down his face. He wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armour that is visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side.

He also seems to be carrying a book and pen.

Blaze watched the man continue to giggle with his face all red, showing he was drunk. She looks where he was looking and a flat looking appeared on her face.

He was staring at the hot springs house.

The _women's_ side.

She walks up to the man, arms crossed. "Do you find something amusing?"

"Oh ho ho ho yes!" The man said happily, not paying attentiom to whom he was talking to. "I heard the most prettiest and beautiful woman that's even prettier than my teammate is here in this town! Word is she's got a really smokin hot body, and I heard that she's here, inside this hot spring house!"

Blaze twitched her eyebrow.

"As an added bonus, rumors have been going around saying that this woman doesn't _like_ men! Or better yet, she isn't interested in them, and she's suppose to be a queen! Which tells me that this beautiful queen goes for the other team, which makes her perfect for my research!"

"Oh?" A large vein then appears on Blaze's face as her eyebrow twitched dangerously. Wisps of flames danced across her finger. "And what is this..._research_ for?"

"For my next novel of course! The #1 series in the world of adults! The Make-Out series!" The man exclaimed before he blinks in confusion. "Wait, who am I talking too?" He turns to Blaze and saw her hair shadowed her eyes. "Who the heck are you kid?"

"..." Blaze looks up at the man, a blank look on her face, as fire danced in her hands.

"..." The man sweated nervously at seeing it.

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village**

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! IT BURNS!" A very loud and painful screamed echoed from some place very far away, making Naruto, Tails and just about to stop what they were doing.

"What was that?" Naruto and Tails asked, turning to each other in confusion. They weren't inside outside, so they didn't see the orange light coming from a distance.

* * *

A few days passed and now today was the day of the Chunin Exams and Squad 7 met in front of the Academy doors.

The Team walked down the hallway, Naruto in the back to make sure Tails was okay in his backpack, Sasuke up front, hands in his pocket. Sakura didn't have much of anything to say, still wondering why she was sticking around when she would just hold her teammates back.

The three went up a set of stairs to enter a hall that was cluttered with people. Everyone appeared to be gathered around a room with the sign '301' above the door, with two Chunin barring the way. Naruto looked at the sign in confusion before he realized something.

"Hold on." The Ultimate Ninja whispered to his Team. "Didn't we just went up one floor?"

Sasuke nodded. "We did. These guys are using a Genjutsu and everyone in this room walked right into it."

Naruto nodded. While he did suck at Genjutsu, he can easily tell which was real and which wasn't, even from the smallest detail. And since this was the most basic one, he can tell that they were on the second floor.

"We still need to go through that door don't we?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. Let's break the charade." Sasuke said as they walked forward. They soon heard a punching sound and someone falling down.

When they got close to the commotion, they saw who it was that got punched. It was a boy, a year older than them, with a bowl shaped hair cut. They took notice of the large eyebrows that he got and the green spandex he was wearing. They saw he had a Forehead Protector with the Leaf symbol wrapped around his waist like a belt.

Next to him was a girl, also a year older than them. She has brown hair, tied into two small buns, and brown eyes. She wore a pink Japanese shirt and green pants.

"Please, just let us through." She pleaded to the Leaf Genin, who were guarding the door.

"Oh please, don't make us laugh. We're being nice by comparison. The Exams is going to make this look like child's play." The first Chunin, with his eyes closed, said.

"Some of you won't survive the Exam, others will be wrecked for life." The second Chunin smirked. "And some of you may go crazy. For Chunin it's always life and death."

"Dudes will you please shut up and let us through?" Naruto groaned in annoyance, getting everyone's attention, as he and his teammates appeared on the scene.

"And while you're at it, drop the Genjutsu we can see through your illusion anyway." Sasuke said, getting shocked looks from the rest of the Genin, while the ones guarding the door glared at the two of them.

"Well well."

"So you noticed the Genjutsu huh?"

"Yup." Naruto wrapped his arm around Sakura's, getting an annoyed look from her. "It was so amazing that Sakura here spotted it the moment we came up stairs."

"Huh?" Sakura asked, looking dead confused. What was he talking about?

"You have the best sharpest eyes and analyzing skills in our Squad." Sasuke smirk a little as he turns to her. "You must have seen this coming a mile away."

"I must have?" Sakura muttered, but then got the idea and smirked. "Oh yeah. Of course, sure I spotted it right away."

Everyone looked at the sign and saw it change into Room 201, shocking them there.

"Now." Naruto released Sakura and looked the Chunin. "Are you gonna move or we do we have to make you?"

"Hmph!" The first Guard, began to strike at Sasuke and vice versa.

However green spandex wearing boy appeared and blocked both of their attacks.

"Whoa! How did he do that?" Sakura asked herself. "I thought he was just some weakling getting pushed around, but he's as fast as Naruto and Sasuke."

_"That's some chakra he got, how did he do that?"_ Sasuke asked looking at the boy.

Naruto looked at the boy then to the two guards and saw that they disappeared. He sighed and turned to the green boy in amazement. So this guy was holding out the entire time huh? He was making it look he seemed weak when he was hiding his true strength all along.

In other words, him and everybody else might be holding back as well.

Naruto grins even more. These exams are getting more and more fun by the second!

"Hey, what happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said we should keep a low profile and don't let anyone see our skill level."

Squad 7 turned to the voice and saw a boy with long brown hair. He has white eyes, and had his Forehead Protector on a black cloth, wrapped on his head. He wore a white shirt and black shorts.

"I know but..." The bushy brow teen looked at Sakura with a blush on his face.

"Never mind forget it, it's over." The girl sighed, shaking her head.

Naruto and Sasuke along with Tails, who took a peek, watched as the bowl cut teen walked to Sakura, with the blush still present on his face. He stopped a few feet away from her.

"My name is **Rock Lee**. You are Sakura right?"

"Um, yes?" Sakura replied in confusion.

"Will you please be my girlfriend?" Lee asked, giving her a thumbs and a wink. "I vow to protect you with my life."

Naruto fell forward in comical shock before he sat crossed legged as he held his breath in to stop himself from laughing. Inside the bag, Tails too was holding his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"Um...no thanks." Sakura deadpanned, causing Lee to have a shocked look.

"But...why...?"

"Because, you're weird."

Naruto instantly stopped laughing and gave a deadpanned look at Sakura. "Dude that is cold."

"Hey, you. Over here." The white eyed teen called out, looking at Sasuke. "What's your name?"

Sasuke smirked at this. Looks like he was getting attention at the Exams. "You know it's impolite to ask someone for a name without introducing yourself."

"You're a Rookie aren't you? How old are you?"

"Sorry won't answer." Sasuke said, earning a glare from the teen.

"What was that?"

_"Hehe. Cute."_ The girl thought, staring at Sasuke as he and the rest of Squad 7 left.

* * *

**Later**

"Okay, as creepy as whatever..._that_ was earlier, I still can't believe Sasuke got beat by a guy like that!" Naruto laughed.

He was talking about the Bushy Brow boy that ran into downstairs when he asked Sasuke for a fight. They fought and Sasuke lost, it was only till after the battle they saw his Sensei, who had the same eyebrows he did and they both cried and hug each other...with a sunset behind the two.

That would forever haunt their mind and they hoped and prayed that they would never see something like again.

"Will you shut up already?" Sasuke growled.

"Yo."

The Team looked up in surprise and saw Kakashi was there standing in front of the entrance.

"Kakashi-sensei? Why are you are here?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Oh, I just came by and wanted to say something to you." Kakashi said, eye-smiling to them. "I'm proud of that all three of you have come so far." That caused the Squad to smile.

"Well, that's because we have one lazy cool ass sensei like you." Naruto smirked making Kakashi eye smiled at him.

"Right. Naruto. Sasuke. Sakura. Good luck out there and kick some butt."

With that said and done, the Genin nodded to their sensei and watched him disappeared in a swirl of leaves. They look up at the room number and it read 301.

"Aw, yeah! Let's do it to it!" Naruto exclaimed as he opened the door and entered the room.

When they did, they stopped walking. Naruto whistled, Sasuke narrowed his eyes and Sakura had a scared expression.

"Gee, I guess we're not alone." Sakura said.

"That's a _lot_ of Genin." Naruto commented. "I think some of them might be older than us."

They were all looking at the rest of the Genin from different Villages, and they were sending death glares at them. Tails, despite being in the backpack could feel the glares, making him tremble in fear.

"_W...what's this feeling…?"_ Tails asked himself as he shivered and took a peak out.

"Sasuke, where have you been?" A familiar voice asked.

Naruto, Sakura and a curious Tails, turned around and saw Sasuke get hugged from the back by Ino. They took notice of the comical annoyed look on his face.

"Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping you would show up." Ino said. "I miss those brooding good looks of yours."

Sakura had a small vein on her head as she looked at how close Ino was to her Sasuke. "HEY! Back off Porker, Sasuke's mine!"

"_Wow, they're treating him like a toy."_ Naruto and Tails sweat dropped.

"Hey Naruto, who's that?" Tails whispered.

"That's **Ino Yamanaka**." Naruto whispered back lowly. "And let me tell ya, she's really annoying and not just because of the Sasuke thing."

"Miss Forehead, they let you in?" Ino mocked. "Still got those frown lines on your big board brow!"

"Grr! Shut up, leave my forehead out of this!" Sakura yelled.

Tails couldn't help but blink in surprise at the insults that the two threw at each other. "Golly, they must really like Sasuke, huh?"

"You have no idea." Naruto deadpanned.

"Man, you guys are here also. I knew this was going to be drag but I didn't know it was going to be this lame."

Naruto rolled his eyes and turned around seeing **Shikamaru** **Nara** and **Choji Akimichi**, who was eating the potato chips. "Nice to see you too Sunshine and Mr. Eater."

"Well well what do ya know?" A voice asked.

The Rookies looked and saw Squad 8 walking towards them, with **Kiba** **Inuzuka** taking the lead.

"So, looks like the whole gang is back together." Kiba smirked.

"Oh, hi Naruto." **Hinata** **Hyuga** greeted her crush with a smile on her face.

"Hey Hinata. What's up?" Naruto greeted back before he looked at **Shino Aburame**. "How's it going Shino?"

Hinata felt her face heat and she pushed her fingers together. Shino looked at Naruto and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"So you guys are here too? Man everyone is here for this stupid thing." Shikamaru said.

"Yup, here we are, the **Nine Rookies**. Haha, this is gonna be fun!" Kiba said in excitement. "Well at least there's gonna be some of us that makes the cut, right Sasuke?"

"Kiba…" Sasuke smirked while Ino had a comical annoyed expression. "I'd be careful about that overconfidence of yours. That doesn't end well for you."

"Heh! Just wait, we're gonna blow you guys away!" Kiba smirked.

"If anyone is gonna blow anyone away it's gonna be me." Naruto pointed at himself. "I've gotten way past stronger the last time you saw me and that's thanks to my little trip."

"O-oh um….w-we all heard about that Naruto." Hinata told him, making Naruto blink.

"About what?"

"About that little vacation of yours to those mysterious Islands and fighting off against a crazy scientist." Shikamaru sighed. "Everyone wouldn't stop talking about it and it put them on edge, especially about this guy having an army of machines that are powered by animals."

"Badniks, Shikamaru. They are called Badniks." Naruto said as the Nara shrugged uncaringly. "And everybody needs to chill out about Nega. He won't be causing trouble for a while and if he shows his face, I'll be ready to take him out!" He grinned confidently.

"So what's this guy like?" Choji asked, still eating his bag of chips.

"He's bothersome and annoying." Naruto replied. "Whenever he tries to cook up some scheme I'm always there to stop him. It's like it's my job or something."

"Tch. Going on all these grand adventures by yourself and fighting to the save the world like some hero?" Kiba growled as Naruto grins cockily at him. "If I was in your shoes, that Egg guy would be Akamaru's chew toy. Right, buddy?"

Akamaru barked in response before he sniffed the air. He barked confusedly before he barked at Kiba.

"What's that boy? You say smell a fox? And it's close?"

Naruto had cracks all over his body as he turned to stone. SHIT! He completely forgotten about Kiba and Akamaru's strong sense of smell! If he and the others finds out about Tails...Damn! Damn! Damn! A distraction! He needs a distraction!

"Hey, you guys should keep it down." A voice said.

Everyone turned to the voice and saw a Leaf Genin who's several years older than them. He has gray hair tied into a pony and had on glasses, which covered his black eyes.

"_Yes! Thank you God!"_ Naruto thought happily as he inwardly cried crocodile tears.

"You guys are really causing a scene around here." The man continued. "There are many anxious Genin around and I'm sure few of them wouldn't mind throwing away the competition."

"Is that so?" Naruto asked uncaring, knowing that none of these guys won't take him out.

"And who the heck are you?!" Ino asked rudely.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi." Kabuto introduced himself. "And you guys might want to look around."

The Rookies looked around and saw everyone was staring at them. The older Genin had dead serious expressions on their faces and weren't in the best mood.

"You made quite the impression."

"Yeah, get that alot." Naruto shrugged as Kabuto gave a chuckle

"You know..." He spoke up, getting the Rookies attention. "Since you guys are Rookies and you don't know how things work around here. You guys really do remind me of myself."

"Kabuto, was that your name?" Sakura asked.

"Yes?"

"This isn't the first time you've taken the Exam?"

"No it's...my seventh." Kabuto said, getting confused looks and raised eyebrows from everyone.

"Huh?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Then you must stink."

"Well, they're held twice a year." Kabuto continued. "Though this would be my fourth year."

"So, does that mean you're an expert?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Kabuto smiled.

"In other words, you can give us some inside tips." Kiba said

"Yeah, some expertise never passed." Shikamaru added.

Kabuto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, seven times the charm, that's what they say huh?"

"So I guess all those rumors about the exams being tough are true." Shikamaru deadpanned. "Oh man, I knew this was going to be a drag."

Naruto instantly got bored and just walk away, ignoring what was going on, especially about Kabuto having Ninja Info Cards, which caught his interest a little bit but he ignored it. He'd rather see in action what someone is truly capable of instead of reading info about them. Instead of getting info on certain people, he'd rather see them in action.

He took his backpack off and looked inside, seeing Tails looking up at him. "You okay in there Tails?" He whispered so low that he didn't want people to know.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tails replied.

"Alright, just let me know if you need anything."

"Okay."

Naruto put the backpack on and turns to the others, seeing that they are gathered around to look at the Info Cards, making him roll his eyes. He was going to join them but stopped as he felt someone's eyes on him.

He turns his head, looking for the person who's watching him. He soon found that person and saw it was a girl, who looks a year older than him.

She has orange eyes and wore a conical straw hat. Her black bangs are visible beneath her hat and is hung over her face. She wears a purple gi-like outfit trimmed in gold and belted at the waist. She also wears heavy gloves and boots with metal reinforcements.

The girl's cold narrowed eyes were locked into Naruto's own narrowed eyes as they continued to stare each other down, while also ignoring everything else.

"The Exams is going to get really intense this year." Naruto heard Kabuto speak, getting his attention for the moment.

He turns back to the girl, only to see that she vanished, making him blink as he looked around for her. He could feel that girl is strong...very strong, though not as strong as that Gaara. A slow excited grin begins to form on his face

"Hey!" Naruto yelled as he turned to the Genins, getting everyone's attention. "Listen up, cause I'm not going to repeat myself!" He pointed his thumb to himself. "Remember this face and this name! I'm the World's Ultimate Ninja, Naruto Uzumaki!" He used his ESP and brought Sasuke and Sakura next to either side of him, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "The Ultimate Team are here and we are gonna send you punks back home with your tails between your legs!"

Sasuke, despite being annoyed about Naruto using his ESP on him, smirked at his statement while Sakura looked at Naruto as though he was an idiot who needed to shut up.

_"Hmph. Looks like he's fired up now."_ Sasuke thought.

_"Wow, he sure have a lot of guts to say something like that."_ Kabuto thought.

The Rookies were stunned at Naruto's words and some of them thought that he lost his mind or something.

The other Genins however, were not so happy and a few of them were itching to get a fight with Naruto in order to teach him a lesson about keeping his mouth shut especially about him calling himself the _World's_ Ultimate Ninja.

In one group, the Sand Siblings were looking at Naruto. Temari had a smirk on her face, Gaara had an emotionless expression, and Kankuro scoffed.

"Ultimate Ninja? Yeah right."

"Kid's got guts for saying that." Temari added.

In another group, were the Genin of Squad 10, Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten. They took notice that the atmosphere around got dark after Naruto spoke up. Tenten looked at the group with a smirk on her face.

"That guy is something else." She said as Neji nodded.

"He's got spirit." He was looking at them as if he was studying them, especially the so called "Ultimate Ninja" and his "Ultimate Team".

"Yosh!" Lee grinned. "They have fire and passion!"

Then there was the last group which consisted of the Sound Genin.

"Hey did you guys hear what the glasses wearing one said about our village?" Zaku asked glaring at Kabuto. "He called out us a mystery."

"Yeah, I heard also." Dosu replied.

"I think it's time we taught him a lesson." Kin spoke up.

The same straw hat girl that was eyeing Naruto heard what he said and narrowed her eyes at him. "Naruto Uzumaki…"

Impossible. Surely he couldn't be of the same famous Uzumaki Clan. As far as she knows, the Uzumaki Clan are extinct. Killed off when their Village was destroyed by some of the countries. Plus they were supposed to have red hair, yet he has blond hair with red streaks in them.

She continued to stare at Naruto. She definitely will remember that name and face as she squash that cocky fool.

Back to the Rookies, Naruto was laughing in excitement as he did some stretches along with some punching and kicking movements.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you right." Kiba said with a smirk on his face.

"Sheesh, Naruto have you lost your mind or something?" Shikamaru asked in annoyance. "You want everyone else in this room to hate our guts?"

"Screw these guys. Unlike you lot, I ain't scared of these chumps. Besides I'm pretty sure they hated us from the beginning." Naruto stated as he did some more stretches. He turns to his former classmates and shrugged. "But hey, if you guys can't handle the heat then get out of the kitchen, ain't nobody stopping you from leaving." He smirks. "Just let the Ultimate Team handle this Exam."

Before any of the Rookies could counter that statement, one of the Sound Genin jumped to the air and threw two kunai at Kabuto, who quickly dodged it. However, another one, wrapped in bandages, came in front of him and swing his right arm.

_"They're from Sound!"_ Kabuto thought as he looked at their Forehead Protectors and quickly dodged the attack. He saw that his glasses were shattered. "I see..."

The Rookies, except Naruto, were shocked speechless by the sudden attack on their comrade.

"Kabuto!" Sakura screamed as she ran to his aid. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kabuto smiled slightly as he picked up his shattered glasses.

_"What the hell was that?"_ Sasuke asked himself. _"He dodged the attack but what broke his glasses?"_

Unknowingly, Naruto asked himself the same thing as he narrowed his eyes at the Genin's bandaged hand. The way that guy attacked Kabuto and managed to only damage his glasses could only mean that he used some form of Chakra to do it.

"Hey, why don't you put this in your Info Cards." The one wrapped in bandages said, as his Team came up to him side-by-side. "We, of the Sound Village will become Chunins!" He went to try punch him this time, but found his fist caught by Naruto's hand as he stared at him with a half-lidded expression.

The Sound Team and the rest of the Genin, aside from Sasuke and Sakura, were shocked that Naruto was in front of the bandaged boy when he was just by his team's side.

"Save it for later on." Naruto said as he put more pressure into the Genin's hand, making him grit his teeth in pain as he felt his bones crack.

**POOF!**

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned to the voice and saw a man. He wore a trench coat, a bandana on his head, with the Leaf symbol on it, and he had two scars on his face. Behind him, were some of Chunins.

"You Sound Genins!" The man shouted glaring at them and unleashing his Killing Intent. "Fighting is prohibited here! If you do then you will be disqualified and get sent back to your home!"

Naruto removed his hand from Dosu' own as he and his Team fell back. "Hmph." He crosses his arms and turns to the man.

"It's time to begin." The man grinned. "I am Ibiki Morino, your first proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy."

There were silent gasps of shock after hearing what Ibiki said. They all just looked at him getting their attention and was also getting ready to pass this.

"It is time, we proceed with the first Exam." Ibiki spoke up. "Hand over your paperwork, in return you will each be given a number." He took out a paper and it had the number 1 on it. "This number determines where you'll sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

_"...oh shit."_ Naruto thought to himself as he sweat fearfully. Written tests...the #1 thing he sucks at the most.

Everyone is now seated in their assigned seats as Naruto was sitting next to Hinata, he had a cool expression on his face, but inwardly he was screaming like a maniac.

"_Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Why the hell is the first part a __**written**__ exam!?"_ He asked himself as Tails' eyes is seen from inside his backpack as he was looking around.

"_Gosh, I hope Naruto passes."_ Tails thought as he ate some candy. He recalled that Naruto had told him that he always sucked when it comes to written tests and that he hated to study._ "It looks like he might have some trouble."_

"Um, Naruto?"

"Hm?" Both looked to the right and saw Hinata sitting there with a small smile on her face.

"Oh Hinata. You sitting next to me?" Naruto asked as Tails instantly ducked back inside.

Hinata blushed at the title making her smile even more. "I just want to say...good luck and everything."

Naruto nodded and smiled at that. "Thanks. And same to you."

The sound of tapping got the two out of their little conversation.

"Everyone eyes front." Ibiki ordered. "There are a few rules you need to be aware of. And I won't answer any questions. So you better pay attention!"

"No questions? What kind of rule is that?" Sakura asked silently.

"Alright, Rule #1 is this: The written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system." Ibiki explained. "You will begin the test with a perfect score of 10 points. One point will be deducted for every answer you get wrong. So if you miss 3 then you get 7. Rule #2: Teams will pass or fail based on total score of all three members."

That caused many of the Genin to have many reactions. Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes at him while Sakura banged her head on the table and looked at Ibiki.

"What!? Wait a second, you're saying we all get scored as a team!?" She asked.

"Silence." Ibiki ordered coldly. "I have my reasons. So shut up and listen! Rule #3: The Sentinels you see around the room, are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating." He smirks darkly. "And for every incident they see, they will subtract two points from the culprits score." He saw the shocked looks on the Genin's faces, making him smirk. "Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp and if they catch you five times you'll be dismissed before the tests are over."

Some of the Genin turns to the Sentinels.

"Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserved to be called Chunin." Ibiki continued.

"I got my eye on you guys." A Chunin smirked, causing those to gasp.

"If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us, what exceptional shinobi you can be." Ibiki finished.

_"Okay okay relax."_ Sakura thought as her expression was calm and serious. _"I know I'll do alright and Sasuke should be fine. But what about Naruto? He's always been bad when it comes to tests!"_

"One more thing." Ibiki spoke up. "If any candidate should get a 0 and fail the test, then the entire Team fails."

That made some of the Genin have shocked and disbelief expressions. Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief and Sakura had a shocked expression. Naruto turned back to stone and crumbled into dust, except his backpack.

_"Naruto..."_ Hinata thought worriedly for her crush.

"The final question won't be given out 15 minutes before the end of the testing period." Ibiki said. "You'll have one hour total. BEGIN!"

Sounds of pages getting flipped are heard and everyone got to work.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"It's quiet without the Rookies around." Kakashi said, to his fellow Jounin, Asuma and Kurenai. "I almost miss them. Especially Tails. He's pretty fun to mess with."

"Oh don't worry. Chances are they'll be back sooner than you think." Asuma said.

"Why's that?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"I heard that their first examiner this year is Ibiki." Asuma replied, causing the silver haired Jounin to jump in surprise.

"Greaaat. Sticking them with that sadist is off the bat."

"Huh? What sadist?" Kurenai asked, only to hear Asuma chuckle.

"I forgot you're a new Jonin Kurenai. Otherwise you wouldn't have to ask that." The bearded Jounin said.

"So I'm ignorant, who is he?" Kurenai asked once more.

"He's what you might call a 'specialist'." Kakashi answered.

"Oh yeah?" Kurenai said. "In what?"

Asuma took a puff of his smoke and grinned. "Interrogation and Torture."

Kurenai gasped in surprise.

"Of course, you won't be using physical torture during the test. It's not his style." Asuma continued. "He works on people's minds not their bodies. He's famous for it. Everyone knows about the head of the ANBU Interrogation Torture of the Hidden Leaf Village. Ibiki Morino."

* * *

Naruto was chewing on the pencil tip as he glared at the paper in front of him. So far after looking over the first few questions, all of this was just basic physics and algebraic word problems. He looks around already knowing Sakura and Sasuke were doing okay, especially Sakura since she was crazy smart.

Damn it! If he screws this up, then him and his team are done! And he couldn't answer these questions!

The reason why? These were _Chunin_ level questions! They never..._studied_ that crap back in the Academy, they were still training! Looks like he's going to have to cheat.

Unfortunately, just as Naruto was about to look at some guy's paper, Tails' nose started to twitch.

"Ah...ah…" Even though it was whisper, a stiff Naruto and those around him heard it as they looked towards the Ultimate Ninja in confusion, who looked like he was a deer that was seen.

"_Are you serious?! Now of all times?!"_ Naruto thought as he sweated nervously when Tails started to get louder. He stood up, getting everyone's attention. "Yo! Proctor guy or whatever your name is! I have to go to the bathroom! Like now! I'll be back, thanks later!"

Before the Proctor could say anything, Naruto instantly ran out the room in a burst of speed, making the hairs on those around them to be blown back surprising those who don't know about his gift, slamming the door.

Nearly everybody looked on in confusion, wondering what that was about while some just went back to their test. Ibiki sighed and shook his head in annoyance. He turns to the Sentinels.

"Somebody go out there and keep an eye on that kid."

"I got it." One of them stood up and walked out of the room.

"_What was that about?"_ Sasuke and Sakura thought at the same time.

Inside the bathroom, Naruto sighed in relief. Tails was out and about, in his human form, the moment Naruto came in.

Tails sniffed a couple of times before he turns to Naruto. "Sorry about that Naruto."

"Nah, it's cool Tails, it was bound to happen sooner or later." Naruto said, leaning on the wall. "But man, that was close."

"Are those tests really that hard?" Tails asked curiously.

"Dude, we never even had tests like that back in the Academy!" Naruto exclaimed as he started to pace around back and forth. "I know Sakura can definitely ace this thing, since she's the smartest one in our class. But I'm not even sure about me and Sasuke."

"If it's that bad, then why don't you cheat?" Tails asked.

"...did you not hear what that guy said?" Naruto deadpanned. "If we get caught five times then it's over. And these guys are specialists" He put his hand under his chin. "To be honest, a small part of me was thinking of letting you check it out but I threw the idea in the toilet"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, cause if you put your test in the bag, then it's obvious that everyone will know what's up. Plus, I don't know much about ninja, other then they move in the shadows."

Naruto nodded as well. "I'll be frank with you Tails. I think that there's something up about this test. I can smell it. But I need time to think about it some more. After all, this test is really getting to me and my head isn't in the game because of it."

"You really think so?" Tails asked curiously.

"Trust me, I know so." Naruto.

Tails' nose started to twitch again. "ACHOO!" Smoke appeared around him and he transformed back into a fox. He looked sheepish. "Um, before we head back, I really need to go the bathroom."

"...same here." Naruto said.

They both went to a toilet and sighed blissfully. They soon washed their hands, or gloves in Tails' case, and he jumped back into the bag.

"Alright let's go."

Naruto sighed again as he enters the room, with one of the Sentinels next to him.

"Finished doing your business?" Ibiki asked.

"Yup, I'm good now." Naruto simply said as he returned to his seat.

"I see." Ibiki smirked. "Mind if I ask why you didn't leave your bag here? You wouldn't happen to be hiding _something_ in there, are you?"

"Nope." Naruto said, popping the 'p'. "Wherever I go, my stuff goes with me."

"Oh really? Well then, you wouldn't mind if I _check_ it, will you?" Ibiki asked.

Naruto shrugged. He handed the Sentinel next to him his bag. He walks up to Ibiki and handed him the bag. The Proctor looked inside before he raised a brow. He looks at Naruto, who only smiled at him, before looking back inside the bag.

"Hmph." Ibiki threw the bag at Naruto, who caught it. "Sit down and do the test."

Naruto sat down, sitting the bag down next to him. However, the moment he sat down, a kunai flew past his head and onto a desk behind him. He blinks very slowly before looking at Ibiki and noted that he was looking at the person behind him.

"#48 you're out! Take your team with you!" The Proctor's loud voice boomed, startling some in the room as the Genin Team left in shame.

Naruto touched his hair and looks down, seeing that some traces of his hair got cut off and was on his shoulder, making his eyes widen.

"Psst, Naruto." Hinata whispered to him, getting his attention. He looks down, seeing her paper underneath her elbow, towards him. "You can copy mine if you'd like, I already finished."

Naruto blinks at her in surprise. He honestly didn't expect Hinata of all people to let him cheat. He was about to say something but he turns his head to one of the Sentinels and saw one of them writing on his board. The Sentinel looked up at the whiskered Genin with a smirk, making Naruto narrow his eyes at him.

"Thanks but no thanks." Naruto turns to her, smiling at her. "I don't want you to get disqualified because of me and I don't want that to happen to you. I'll be fine don't worry." He winks to her before he turns to look down at his test, not seeing Hinata's red face.

"_He really does care…"_ Hinata thought as she smiled lovingly at Naruto's honorable action.

Now back to the test. It's definitely no doubt that questions were Chunin level and not Genin. Now the question is, why have they been given questions that weren't Genin level when they themselves are Genin?

It's almost as if these guys wanted them to...

Naruto's eyes slowly widened in shock and realization. So that's it! They _wanted_ them to cheat using however means as long as they don't get caught!

_"Damn. Should've seen it sooner."_ Naruto grins to himself. He already guessed that Sasuke and the others also figured out and were no doubt cheating right now. Hey, why not join in on the fun?

But then again, the last question does seem important than all the other nine questions. And if he get's it right then they can all pass with flying colors. Still he will have to take the chance and answer the other questions. Well, well, looks like it's time for him to use…

"**Time Stop."** Naruto whispered as everything stopped around him. "Okay! Only 10 seconds! Gotta go fast!" He dashed around the room, looking at everyone's papers seeing some of the same yet different answers before he felt time slowly start to come back to normal. He smirks as he sat back down in his seat just as time returned to normal.

"Hehe!" Naruto looks down at the paper and chuckled to himself as he starts to write something down

Ibiki smirked as he looked around the room, noticing the Uchiha brats' Sharingan, the male Hyuga's Byakugan and several other Genin cheating. Looks like these kids figured out the true purpose of this exam, especially the Nine-Tails kid, seeing that grin he has on his face. Ibiki soon grinned as well.

Time for the show to begin.

"Everybody pencils down!" Ibiki yelled as everyone stopped writing and sat their pencils down. "It is time for the 10th and final question." That caught everyone's attention. "However, before we continue there are more rules you must be aware of."

Naruto ignored what the guy was saying and looked inside his backpack. He winks to Tails as he winks back and gave him a thumbs up. He turns back to Ibiki just as he began to speak about these rules.

"Very well then Rule #1: Each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question." Ibiki started, causing a few to look surprise by this.

"Whoa, so what's the catch?" Temari asked. "Let's say we decide not to take it, what happens then?"

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless your answers to the others, you'll get a 0." Ibiki replied. "In other words you fail, and that means of course, your Team fails also."

All of the Genin gasped as they started to whisper amongst themselves.

"Not so fast. You didn't let me finish." Ibiki said as the whole room went quiet. "If you do accept the question, but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail...YOU WILL BE FORBIDDEN FROM TAKING THE CHUNIN EXAM EVER AGAIN!"

Naruto's eyes widened while everyone else remained in silent shock.

"HEY THAT'S BULL MAN!" Kiba shouted as he stood up. "That's just stupid! What kind of bogus rule is that!? There's lots of people here who's taken the test before!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Ibiki chuckled darkly. "I guess you were just...unlucky then. I wasn't making the rules before but I am now. Of course if you don't want to take it then you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident then by all means skip it. You can come back and try again next year."

Naruto had a serious look on his face as he crossed his arms and looked down, his hair shadowing his eyes.

"Now then if you're ready." Ibiki spoke. "The tenth and final question. Raise your hands for those who don't want to take it! Your number will be recorded and you'll be free to go."

A few of the Genins raised their hands up and began to walk out, with the sentinels recording their numbers down. A couple of minutes later, more hands were raised as more Genin.

Sakura was conflicted. She didn't want to risk getting the question wrong herself, and be forever below her team, but she didn't want to quit and be labeled a coward by Sasuke either.

Then her thoughts went to Naruto.

There wasn't a chance in hell that he'd answer this question right, and if he was permanently demoted, it would keep him from his dream and trying to find his friend. And if he was kept from both his dream and friend, that would destroy him. The pinkette couldn't let the red-streaked blond shatter his hopes and dream like just because he was too stubborn to call it quits and try again.

She was about to raise her hand but her, Sasuke and Hinata's eyes widened in shock as Naruto rose his hand up. His hair still shadowing his eyes.

"_No…"_ Hinata thought with a sad look in her eyes.

**Music: His World (E3 Version) [Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)]**

Naruto soon grit his teeth and his raised hand turned into a fist as he stood and slammed it down into the desk, making large hole appear, which caught everyone's attention, glaring at Ibiki with an angry determined expression.

"Don't you dare look down or underestimate me! I'm not quitting and I'm not running away! Go ahead and act tough all the hell you want, I fought things that not a single one of you clowns saw or heard of your whole entire lives! If you seriously think I give a rat's ass if I remain a Genin my entire life then you better think again! I made a promise to someone very important to me a long time ago to keep chasing my dream! And there's no way I'll ever break it! I'll tear down every obstacle in my path to reach my it! I'm gonna surpass the Fourth Hokage someday and when I do…I will become the next Hokage!"

Naruto glared at Ibiki with such determination and fire in his eyes as he spoke those words.

Sasuke stared at Naruto in surprise before he closed his eyes and nodded, a smirk present on his face. _"This guy...he really is clueless. But he's got guts I'll give him that."_

"_Way to go. You dumb fool."_ Sakura smiled.

Hinata smiled happily at Naruto. In his backpack, Tails was awe-struck at Naruto's speech and he immediately gained new fire in his eyes as well.

"_Yeah, that's right! And I'll always be there to help Naruto!"_ Tails thought to himself as he a determined grin was on his face

Ibiki blinked in shock at the hyperactive boy's determination. He took a look at everyone else's face. "This decision is one that can change your life. If for any reason you would rather quit, now is your last chance."

"Bring it on. I _never_ go back on my word." Naruto said in a dead serious tone as he smirks. "That's the Way of the Ninja."

The looks on the rest of the Genin's faces showed that his speech was inspirational enough to get them to stay, which impressed Ibiki. Not a single one of them was wavering. He turns to the Sentinels and they nodded at him. He nods back and turns to the Genin.

"Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining there's only one thing left to do." The tension skyrocketed as Ibiki paused as if getting ready for the question. He grinned heartedly. "Congratulations. You've passed the First Exam."

**Music Scratches **

Silence filled the room as everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

Naruto's eyes turned comical as he stared at Ibiki as though he had a grown a second head. He picked his ear and turns to Hinata, a comical confused expression on his face.

"Um, what did he just say?"

"H-He said we passed." Hinata answered.

"Wh-What do you mean? What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

Ibiki looked sheepish. "There is no tenth question, well so to speak! The 'tenth question' was just a test of your determination. We needed to know how willing you were to stay."

"Hold on a second!" Temari yelled. "So the other nine questions you gave us was just a waste of time, is that it!?"

"Not at all, the first nine were meant to see just how well you could gather information. As I explained before this test is based on all the success of all of your teammates. This puts pressure on each team member to want to do their best." Ibiki smirked.

"Oh...well that explains everything." Temari said.

"I'm sure you realized by now the questions on this test were more than most Genin could answer, and most of you realized you needed to cheat. There were Chunin in the crowd for that specific purpose. Of course, those that cheated poorly failed." As Ibuki talked, he slowly took his bandana off and revealed to everyone the scars that was on his head. "This is because on the battlefield, information can mean life and death."

"Dude…" Naruto whispered as he creeped out a expression which was mirrored by some of the other Genin.

"Man, what a mess." Sasuke whispered. "Look at all those scars..."

"Of course, you must always consider the source of your information." Ibiki continued, putting his bandana back on. "Intelligence gathered from the enemy is not accurate. Always bear this in mind, dis information can be worse than no information. It can lead the death of comrades or loss of a village."

"So is that why you put us in the position where we had to gather intelligence for the nine questions?" Naruto asked. "To cheat in order to survive. And the ones who weren't good at it were kicked out."

"Exactly." Ibiki nodded.

"Okay...but I'm still not getting about what the tenth question thing is all about." Temari said.

"It was a way to test whether or not you are willing to risk everything." Ibuki replied. "To see if you are you willing to risk yourself and your teammates in order to carry out the mission. Congratulations on passing the first test, I wish you all the best of-"

**CRASH!**

Ibiki was interrupted by a mass of black crashing through the window and into the front of the classroom. The shadow expanded, setting all of the present Shinobi on edge.

"The hell!?" Naruto asked in surprise as he grabbed Hinata and put her behind him, making her blush and gasp, and took a stance.

A banner opened, getting pinned to the ceiling with kunai; the banner read 'Second Exam proctor Anko Mitarashi, sit down, shut up and pay attention.'

In front of the banner stood a provocatively dressed woman wearing a fishnet body suit with a brown trench coat layered on top. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail.

"I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi!" Anko introduced herself. "You ready for the next test? Good! Let's go follow me!" She cheered.

…

…

...

There was complete silence as everyone stared at her though Naruto had a comical flat stare at her.

"Anko, you're early." Ibiki said, causing the woman to bush in embarrassment.

Anko got a good look at the amount of Genin still in the classroom and pouted. "What the hell Ibiki? There's like 80 Genin here. You getting soft on me?"

Ibiki shook his head. "No, there's just a stronger batch of candidates this year."

"Pfft, doesn't look like it." Anko grinned. "But it's not like it matters anyways cause by the time I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated."

A sense of dread blanketed the remaining Genin, except for some.

"Alright, listen up you maggots," She barked, just as rude and abrasive as Ibiki. "You may have had it easy but things are going to be a little different starting first thing in the morning! I'll let your Squad Leaders know where to meet me! Dismissed!"

* * *

**Later**

When the class was finally cleared and empty, Ibiki went around to each student's desk to collect their test. When he got to Naruto's, he looked at it and smiled. None of the questions weren't answered and there was only a single word on it.

"_Gotcha."_ And there's a chibi version of his head, giving the famous Sonic grin and wink.

"I just passed a Genin that didn't answer a single question…" He chuckled. "Naruto Uzumaki...that's a funny one alright. Along with that little fox that's in his backpack."

* * *

**Ending 2: Harmonia [English]**

**Hey, can you hear me?**

A drawing of Tails, in his fox form, is seen, with his back turned to the audience. He turns back and smiles happily at the viewers.

**The sky is limitless and blue  
The sea is endlessly large  
To you, please remain smiling or else I'll cry**

Tails is flying in the Tornado. He waves to a bunch of birds as they waved back. He flew down just above the sea as the dolphins jumped out. Everything vanished and Tails is by himself.

Naruto, Knuckles, Amy, Sasuke and Sakura appears for a moment before they vanished, making Tails cry out before he sneezed and he transformed into his human form.

**You don't have to look around now, because everyone are in these hands**

Pictures starts to rain down and Tails watches each one that pass. All the pictures had everyone on them: Rock Lee, Iruka, Hinata, Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai, Shikamaru, Naruto, Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi.

**Wanting to cry, wanting to run  
If you forget happiness then sing  
Light was born and dark was born, the two is together  
Feeling harmonia, telepathy**

Tails, still in his human form, is walking around the woods, looking for everyone as the sun shine on him. A bunch of animals soon followed and he began to happily lead them as though they were a marching band.

One by one the animals began to leave Tails by himself. He looks in front of him and saw Naruto's back towards him.

A big smile appeared on his face as he ran to his best friend and jumped on his back, causing him to turn around in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. He turns around facing the viewers and looks at them.

**Hey, can you hear me?**

Naruto and Tails then gave the viewers two thumbs up.

* * *

Deep in the center of the Earth, a dark portal opened up on a floating platform and a figure stepped out. The figure revealed himself to be the Masked Boy. He walked near the edge of the platform he was on and looked up.

There floating in front of him was a massive sphere, made out of purple and black energy, with smoke surrounding it. There was more energy coming out everywhere and it was all gathering up to the sphere.

The Masked Boy continued to stare at the sphere. He steps off the platform, but instead of falling, he was still walking, as though there was an invisible platform there. He looks up, seeing a platform that was close to the sphere. He teleports there and stood in front of it.

He held his hand out in front of the sphere, just as a black metal box appeared in it. The purple and black energy/smoke starts to come towards it. Making sure he gathered enough energy, he stops as he observed the energy inside the box.

Behind the mask, an evil sinister grin appears on his face.

"Perfect."

A black portal appeared behind the boy and he turns to leave. After all, it was time to make that Ultimate Loser suffer.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yes! We are at the Chunin Exam Arc! Now, once we reached the Preliminary Round I'm going to skip some fighting scenes since everyone should know them by heart now.

Plus, a lot of things have now changed, mainly the addition of **Conquering Storm** and her **Raijin Clan** from Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog! Yup! I'm going to be adding humanized Archie Sonic characters in the mix, some of them might be heroes and others might be villains/criminals.

I may also add in the Freedom Fighters, if you guys think they'll make a great addition in the Naruto Universe. I may also add in IDW Sonic characters as well.

Just let me know what you guys think about this. Also how do you guys like the Maelstrom of Chaos so far? Five chapters in one day and eleven on this one already? Yeah, I've been busy. I still got other chapters ready for Ultimate Ninja but I'ma hold off on uploading them so I can see them reviews for the chapters, only got a little but its cool.

See you later


	13. Ultimate 12

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 2: Far Away [English Version]**

***Instruments***

Squad 7 is seen staring at the sunset with Blaze, Tails, Amy and Knuckles there with them.

Naruto turns around and grins as he tossed a Chaos Emerald at the viewers before the title appears on it:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Let's hit the gas, it's time to go  
There is no need to hesitate no more**

**We are going on our way**

Naruto is on top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head as he looks up at the sky. Sonic, Shadow and Silver briefly appeared behind him, looking up as well, before they vanished.

Naruto had a surprised expression for a moment as he felt Tails jump on his shoulder. He looks back and saw Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke and Sakura behind him, looking at the two with smiles on their faces.

Naruto grins back at them.

**I might regret it it the end  
But I don't care how long we have to wait**

**We will live it day by day**

Images appear: One is Naruto is doing a pose from the Sonic Adventure 2 cover. The second is Tails waving happily to the readers. The third is Sasuke in an attack pose. The fourth is Sasuke and Sakura standing back-to-back. The last is Kakashi looking at the readers while reading his book.

The scene changes to show them standing in front of a camera. The camera flashes as Naruto and Tails appears in front of it, making goofy faces, much to Sasuke and Sakura's irritation while Kakashi looked at them.

The camera flashes again, this time showing Sakura punching Naruto upside the head, while Sasuke grabbed Tails by his twins and looked at him in annoyance, making Tails smile sheepishly.

The final shot is Squad 7 together, smiling.

**Open up your heart now**

**Pull your loved ones closer**

**Everything will be alright!**

Team Guy makes an appearance together, along with Squad 10 and Squad 8.

An artwork of Kabuto appears, smiling back at the viewers.

The Proctors of the Chunin Exams, Kurenai, Guy, Asuma and the Third Hokage appears.

Conquering Storm appears with her back turned and looking over her shoulder, a cold half-lidded expression on her face.

**I can promise you that…**

**Your feelings will get far~!**

**FAR~!**

Team Sand appears, before Kankuro and Temari disappear leaving Gaara by himself.

Naruto and Sasuke appear behind Gaara, in the background, as he motions his hands up, making sand cover the screen.

Naruto and Sasuke appear in a pitch black space. The camera moves to Sasuke as eyes, similar to a snake, appears above him.

***Instruments***

Naruto is lying down on the grass, staring up at the night sky. He sits up and his eyes widen as he saw Blaze, her back turned to him. Just as a black and purple mist, that has purple electricity, suddenly appears, she turns around and smiles at him. Just as Naruto reached out to her, and she vanished within the mist.

He calls out to her before he got consumed by the mist. Naruto screams as the mist enters his body before he snapped his eyes open, revealing that they are now slitted green.

**So hurry up now!**

**And let it all out!****  
**

Conquering Storm, Neji and Lee are seen in fighting stances. Gaara has his arms crossed.

Naruto and the Masked Boy are seen glaring down at each other.

**Though my legs might hurt**

**I know I'll make it far**

**'Cause I will fight 'till the end!  
**

Knuckles is on Angel Island looking at the sky as the wind blows past his face. Tails is looking up fearfully at a large cage

Sasuke attacks Zaku at the Preliminary Round.

Blaze attacks a Shinobi as she sent him flying and burning in pain.

Naruto appears, in Nine-Tails mode, as he gives a yell at the viewers.

**I'm getting closer!**

**I know I'll get there!**

Amy, Sakura and Ino are seen standing back-to-back with Cherry Blossoms falling in the background.

The left side of Orochimaru's face appears as Sasuke's silhouette is on the right and he's gaining purple marks on his neck. Dr. Eggman Nega briefly appeared, grinning evilly as a screen appeared in the reflection of his glasses.

The right side of the Nazo's face appears as Naruto's feral face appears on the other side, though his sclera is green and his skin begins to turn pale blue.

**No matter what the cost**

**If you are there I know**

**That I'll arrive!**

Back at the arena, Naruto falls back. He looks back up and glares at Nazo as he brung a "Bring it" motion with his hand.

**I'm going far away...**

Naruto's whole body suddenly gained a neon-blue aura coating his body. He gave out a yell and a blue flash appeared.

***Instruments***

Blaze is on top of the entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village. She stares out at the village, holding her Lucky Charm, before she jumps down and runs off to where Naruto is.

The camera backs away from Naruto's serious expression and shows Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, The Rookie Nine, Team Guy, Team Sand and Conquering Storm.

* * *

Today is a brand new exciting day for the Ultimate Team! It's the second day of the Chūnin Exams!

The Genin found themselves standing before a fenced off training ground. Tall and scraggly trees occupied the inside of the closed off area, making it nigh impossible for the Genin to see what was inside of the dark and shadowed forest floor. The sound of hissing made them some not too thrilled to find out.

Anko grinned at the Genin out in front of her, relishing in their paling faces. "Okay brats! This will be the next phase of your Exam! Welcome to Training Ground 44 also known as the **Forest of Death**!"

"Forest of Death? Really?" Naruto asked with half lidded expression. "If you guys really wanna scare people, you better come up with a better name than that, like Silent Forest or something."

The scariest place to Naruto was anything that was haunted by ghosts, like that one pyramid in the Sandopolis Zone. He shivered as he recalled that he accidentally released the ghosts and he hated himself for that stupid stunt.

Seriously, how the hell was he suppose to know that ghosts were inside that Capsule!? Matter of fact, what the hell were they doing inside a Capsule in the first place!? Or better yet, _how_ did Nega capture them and put them in the Capsule?

Those were questions that always made it to his head whenever he thought about that haunted pyramid. But hey, I guess some things aren't worth solving.

Anko smirked at Naruto and threw a kunai at him, who remained unfazed by it. The kunai stopped in front of Naruto and it was covered in a cyan colored aura.

"Nice try~" Naruto teased as he threw it back at Anko, who comically sneered at him.

"Hmph. Cheeky brat." Anko muttered. "Anyways, you all need to sign these waivers." She pulled out a stack of papers from the inside of her jacket and roughly shoved them into a random Genin, who took one and passed the stack.

"Why?" Naruto blinked.

Anko smiled happily. "So I don't get held accountable if you happen to die in the exams." Most of the Genin's faces turned white. "This portion of the Exam is meant to be the ultimate survival test, and an evaluation of just how well you can transport captured intelligence back to friendly territory." She held out a map that shows what's inside the forest. "As you can plainly see, the Forest of Death is an area surrounded by three rivers and at the center is the Tower." She puts the map away. "Also this is an anything goes battle to get your hands on these." She held up two scrolls, one with the kanji for Heaven, and the other for Earth.

"Both of them?" Kabuto asked.

"You'll be fighting to getting both the Heavens Scroll and the Earth Scroll. Altogether, 27 Teams will be participating in this test, so half of those Teams will be going after the Heavens Scroll and the other half will be after the Earth Scroll. I'll hand one kind of Scroll to each Team and that's what you'll be finding for."

"Okay, so how do we pass the test?" Sasuke asked.

"It's simple." Naruto replied in a serious, getting everyone's attention. "As the Proctor said; the Tower is the only place inside the Forest of Death. All we have to do is bring both of those Scrolls inside the Tower and we pass."

"Heh. Give the kid a prize." Anko smirked as she put the Scrolls back inside her jacket. "Oh and by the way, this test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days."

"Five days out there!?" Ino asked in shock.

"What are we gonna do about food!?" Choji asked, a scared expression on his face.

"Look around you." Anko told him. "The Forest has plenty of things to eat. There's plenty for everyone."

"Not to mention unknown dangerous wild man-eating animals that are wandering around, which makes it harder for us to survive." Naruto deadpanned as Tails flinched and gave a muffled scream inside the backpack.

"And let's not forget about the poisonous plants." Kabuto smiled.

"Aw, man!" Choji complained.

"Will you calm down?! This is why it's called survival, you know." Ino told her teammate.

"Which means, nearly half the teams won't make it out alive." Neji said.

"Being surrounded by the enemies, there won't be no time to rest, we must keep watch at all times." Sasuke said.

"Okay, so in short, Forest is filled with food and dangerous animals/poisonous plants, we have to keep watch for anyone trying to get us, we need to have the Heaven and Earth Scrolls to make it to the Tower before the five days are up." Naruto summarized as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. "We got that part down, so can you _please_ hurry up and tell us about the disqualification thing so we can do this thing! I'm waiting~"

"Cool it Hot Shot! I'm getting there!" Anko told him with an angry vein on her head before she coughed. "There are three ways your team can get disqualified; 1. If you can't get a Scroll or make it to the Tower within those five days, you're done. 2. If a teammate gets incapacitated or dies, you're out. And 3. If any of you for any reason look at the content of the Scrolls before you reach the Tower, you. Are. Out of here!"

"And if the Scroll opens and we..._happened_ to look inside?" Naruto asked.

"Lemme put it to you this way, you don't want to know." Anko said with an innocent smile. "This test is also meant as a means to test your integrity. Alright, we all clear? Good. Now everyone turn in your consent forms, get a scroll, and pick a gate. We'll begin in 30 minutes."

* * *

All of the Genin turned in their consent forms and began to talk amongst themselves. Sasuke sat away on his own behind a large boulder, drowning in his thoughts.

_"I see how it is now. Regardless of whatever Scroll we get, no other team is gonna know what we have, and vice-versa. Meaning that potentially everyone here is my enemy. Not like it matters though."_ He reached inside his second pouch and took out a Gold Ring. _"We're the only three-man Squad that has these Gold Rings, which can not only protect us from taking serious damage but to help us gain an extra power boost when we use one. With Naruto being the juggernaut, me being the tactician and close-quarter combat specialist, and Sakura being the brains of the group, we have such a huge advantage I would say it's almost cheating."_ A small smirk began to make it's way across Sasuke's face as he tossed the Ring in the air and caught it. "Too bad for them."

Naruto is also by himself as he was hidden behind a rock, away from everyone else. He opened his backpack and took Tails out, and boy he looks pale as a ghost.

"Whoa! You cool Tails?" Naruto asked in concern. He hasn't seen Tails like that since they ran into those ghosts. It must be because of the Forest of Death, and the kid is only 5 years old. He soon chuckles. "Don't worry little buddy! We'll definitely make it out of the Forest alive and we'll definitely pass this Test!"

"R...Really?" Tails asked nervously as he looked back at the Forest and he shrieked as he saw something large move in the distance. He jumped on Naruto's face. "That place is super scary and huge! How are we gonna find the Tower in that?"

Naruto grabbed Tails and got him off his face. "Chill out dude! We fought Eggman and his Badniks before, so hard can it be take on a bunch of beasts inside? Besides…" He smirks confidently. "What these guys don't know is that we're secretly the first ever Four-Man Squad!"

"Four-Man Squad?" Tails blinked. "Who is the fourth one?"

"It's you brainiac!" Naruto laughed as he gave Tails a noogie. "You're the fourth member of Squad 7!"

"H-hey cut it out!" Tails complained though he did have a happy smile.

"Think about it!" Naruto stopped and looked at Tails with a smile on his face. "With you, me, Sasuke and Sakura we can get through this thing together!" He lose the smile. "If we happened to be separated, I'm going to need you to look after Sasuke and Sakura."

"You...you want me to expose myself to them?" Tails asked nervously. "B...but won't they...freak out at me?"

That's what he was afraid of. He always wanted to introduce himself to Sasuke and Sakura but he was scared that they would look at him like a freak, especially once they see his human form.

Naruto had already accepted him since the day they met and he was extremely happy about that. Knuckles didn't really care about what he was, which made him happy as well, since he gained another new friend in Knuckles.

"...what are you talking about kid?" Naruto asked as he closed one his eyes and looked at Tails. "Do you remember the day I brought you here and the Old Man called you out after he told Sasuke and Sakura to leave?"

"Um...yes?" Tails said in confusion.

"Did you see him, Kakashi and Iruka freak out because they saw you, especially when you transformed?"

"Nuh-uh." Tails shook his head.

Naruto smiles happily. "There you go! If those guys can accept you then why not Sasuke, Sakura and the others?"

Tails had a surprised expression on his face. That's right! Mr. Hokage, Kakashi and Iruka at him didn't do like everyone else did before he met Naruto! They accepted him! Even Mr. Hokage when he welcomed him to the Village after they met and Kakashi-sensei he thanked him for watching over Naruto!

The Fox Boy looked at Naruto as he smiled and nodded at him, making him smile happily.

"Right! Thanks Naruto!"

Naruto held his fist out to him. "Of course! It's a big brother's job to help out his little brother whenever he's down!" Tails smile grew bigger before he held his fist out as well and gave Naruto a fist bump. "I'm counting on ya Tails!"

"Right!" Tails nodded happily. He hops inside the backpack, just as Naruto picked it up, and the two ran off to join the others, not knowing the pair of eyes that watched them leave.

"So..._that's_ what he has in that backpack…" It was the same girl that glared at Naruto yesterday. "Hmph. Not like that Fox is going to do him and his Team any good. The strong survives and the weak will perish inside this Forest." She went back to join her ream.

After every Genin Team retrieved their Scroll, it grew time to begin the test. Each Team of Genin stood before their own gate, listening as Anko's voice came through the radio speakers.

"Alright maggots, the gates will open and the Exam will begin on my countdown. And two words of advice...don't die! "

Squad 7 eagerly waited for the Jonins call. Naruto grabbed Sasuke and Sakura's hands, making them look at him in confusion.

"5…4…" The chain's dropped on every gate as Naruto began to run in place. "3…2…" The gates opened wide as Naruto's feet turned into the figure 8, making his Teammates eyes widen in awe at that, before they turned comical as they realized what he was gonna do. "1! BEGIN!"

"GOTTA GO FAST!"

Naruto shot off into the dark forest canopy, making a powerful gust of wind appear as it caught everyone by surprise for a moment, as Sakura's scream was heard.

"What the hell!? Was that Naruto who did that!?" Shikamaru asked as the wind died down. Soon he and his Team went through their gate. "There's always something with that guy!"

The Genin Team from the Village Hidden in the Grass bounded through the trees. However, their objectives weren't the Scrolls, but a certain team with an Uchiha that was in possession of the Sharingan.

"Split up." The Leader hissed to her Teammates. "We need to find the Uchiha and mark him before the second exam is finished."

Team Guy was flashing through the trees as well. Lee, being eager to meet his combatants, stayed ahead of his team

"Take it easy Lee, the Test has only just begun." Neji called out to his teammate.

"That may be, but whoever our opponents are, I want to find them before they find us!" The thought of a certain Uchiha and Uzumaki came to Lee's mind.

_"Hmph, you hot-blooded fool."_ Neji thought.

The straw hat girl and her Team, who were wearing all black, were running across the ground before they jumped on the trees and charged ahead.

"Lady Storm, which Team shall we go after?" One of her Teammates asked.

"Do you really have to ask?" Storm asked as she kept her eyes forward. A feral grin appeared on her face. "We'll _destroy_ the weakest group and take their Scrolls. And then…" A certain Uzumaki appeared in her head. "We'll go after Uzumaki and his Team. That arrogant fool will suffer the wrath of **Conquering Storm** and the **Raiju Clan**!"

* * *

A mile away, Squad 7 stopped in the middle of a clearing.

"Here is good enough." Sasuke said. "I think it's time we came up with a plan on how we're gonna get that Scroll."

"I could use my Psychokinesis to locate any enemy that's nearby. That way we can find them, knock them out, take their Scrolls and hurry it along to the Tower." Naruto shrugged. That honestly seemed to make enough sense to Sakura and Tails.

Sasuke shook his head. "Even with your Psychokinesis, everyone would try and conceal themselves, including their minds. Go ahead, try to sense out someone, anyone."

A cyan aura appeared around Naruto and he closed his eyes. He began to spread his senses out for as far as they would go, which was about two or three miles. Just as Sasuke said, he couldn't pick up, making him snap his fingers and massage his head as he felt a migraine coming.

"Damn." It looks like his Psychokinesis needs to be worked on as well if he wants it to go past it's limit, especially when it gives him headaches like what happened just now.

"See what I mean? We're gonna have to do this the old fashioned way." Sasuke said.

"Alright. Alright. Before you tell us your plan, I gotta go and take a leak." Naruto said as he walked past Sakura, giving her his backpack and went behind a tree.

Sakura looked at Naruto with an annoyed expression before she reached inside his backpack and took out Tails, who quickly acted like a doll.

"Well, at least he brought you Tails!" Sakura cooed as she hugged him, earning a blush on his face.

As the Squad waited for Naruto, the sound of rustling and scuffling was heard.

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Naruto shouted, getting everyone's attention before the sound of a fist hitting flesh was heard and Naruto flew out.

Everyone's eyes widened as they watched Naruto hit the trunk of a tree hard, making him gasp in pain. They turned back as they heard rustling in the bushes and saw...another Naruto come out!?

"HUH!?" Tails and Sakura's eyes widened in shock as they looked back and forth at the two Narutos. Sasuke however glared at the Naruto that got hit by the tree trunk, as he slowly stood up and wiped the blood off his mouth.

The other Naruto had a comical pissed expression as a large vein was on his head.

"What's the big idea attacking me when I'm pissing you son of a bitch!?" Naruto demanded. "You almost made me piss my pants!"

The other 'Naruto' glared at him angrily before he stood up and pointed at him. "What are you guys waiting for!? Hurry up and take this Fake down!"

Tails and Sakura looked at him, blinking before turning to the other Naruto who had an irritated expression.

"Are we seriously going to play that game?" Naruto asked. The other 'Naruto' was gonna say something before Sasuke appeared and gave him a right hook that sent him back to the tree. "Thank you." He and Sasuke soon took fighting stances.

"Cut the crap already and lose the disguise." Sasuke demanded. "It's over. We got you figured out."

"...guess that's that." The other 'Naruto' glared at him before in his place stood an older Genin with his Forehead Protector, which had an image of lines going down. Hs wore tan pants and long sleeve jacket.

Sakura and Tails gasped in shock while Naruto and Sasuke still took their stance.

"So you brats found out about me. So what I'm still going to take your Scroll!" The Older Genin charged at the three, four if you count Tails, who still acted like a doll. "C'mon which one of you three have it? Or do I have to kill you!?"

Sasuke and Naruto jumped out the way from their incoming enemy. Sasuke did a few hand signs while yellow energy appeared in Naruto's hands.

**"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"**

**"Chaos Spear!"**

Sasuke blew small fire balls and Naruto threw spears of energy. The older Genin dodged their attacks, which made small craters in the ground. He charged towards Sasuke and clashed Kunai with him. The Genin then jumped a few tree branches to get some distance.

But he got covered in a cyan aura, stopping his movements, as his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. He slowly turns around and his eyes widened further as he saw it was Naruto, with his hand out, holding him, a serious scowl on his face.

"You can't escape my Psychokinesis. It's no use." Naruto brought his index and middle fingers back as though he was saying "C'mere" and the Genin quickly flew towards them as he appeared in front Naruto and Sasuke's face. The two looked at each other other and nodded their heads.

Sasuke went and checked him. He turns to Naruto and shook his head. This guy didn't have a Scroll on him.

"Well you're useless." Naruto said as he grinned mockingly at him as he starts to levitate. "Later sucker!" He pushes his hands forward and launched the Genin towards the sky as he screams out.

There was silence in the air as everyone watched stared at where the Rain Genin disappeared.

"It was stupid of him to leave his team and come to us by himself." Naruto said, drawing nods from everyone.

The group sat around in a circle, deciding it was best to come up with a password in case someone got separated and needed to prove themselves friendly.

But seeing how Tails was acting like a doll, then he would be okay. Plus Sakura was still holding onto him as though he was giving her the courage to stay and fight.

Did I mention that were floating above the trees?

Naruto used his telekinesis to have everyone float above the trees, so that way no one can hear them when they say the password.

"Okay, so what's the password gonna be?" Naruto asked.

"When does a ninja strike?" Sasuke started. "A Ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike. Got it?"

"Got it!" Sakura exclaimed.

"...are you serious?" Naruto asked, a half lidded deadpanned expression. "You call that a password? Can't you just say a single word or something?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, Naruto, that's it."

"Ugh, you're such a blockhead Naruto. I memorized it easily, why can't you?" Sakura scolded.

Tails wanted to giggle so much but stopped when Naruto sent him a comical glare.

"A password is supposed to be a single word not a freaking speech!" Naruto grumbled as they began to float down. "Whatever…let's hurry and get out of here."

As their feet touched the ground, a dreadful feeling began to build up in Naruto's stomach, almost like something bad was going to happen. His eyes widened as he sensed a dark malicious intent in the air.

"WATCH OUT!"

They heard something shoot by them and into the darkness behind them. Before they could react a gust of wind funneled through the canopy, sweeping Naruto off his feet and away into the forest.

Tails, Sakura and Sasuke were lucky enough to dodge, mostly due to Sasuke noticing the tensing in Naruto's muscles he managed to grab Sakura, who held on tightly to Tails, who was choking, in time and dodged.

About a mile away, the Grass Genin stood with her teammates, "Fan out into the woods and keep your eyes open. I'll handle this alone."

* * *

Sasuke was hiding under a bush as he waited for someone to attack. What the heck was that attack just now? Who caused it? And where were the others?

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke quickly looked behind him and saw Sakura standing there. And she wasn't holding onto Naruto's toy...

"I'm glad you're okay! What was that?" Sakura was about to run towards him but stopped when she saw him draw a Kunai.

"Stay there!" Sasuke told her. "Answer this question: When does a Ninja strike?"

"Oh right!" Sakura said. "A Ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a Ninja to strike."

Sasuke nodded and brought his Kunai down. "What happened to the toy?"

"Tails? He's right there." Sakura turned her head towards Tails, who was leaning back into a tree. "I sat him down after I saw you."

"What about Naruto?"

"That attack just now blew him away somewhere." Sakura answered as she examined a crater that the force made and it went a long way. "Somewhere really far away from us."

While the two talked, Tails looked at them before a nervous scared expression appeared on his face as he looked to where Naruto vanished to after that attack.

"_Oh no! Naruto! I have to do something-"_ Tails thoughts were interrupted as he remembered Naruto's words to him before they entered the Forest of Death.

"_If we happened to be separated, I'm going to need you to look after Sasuke and Sakura."_

"_I'm counting on ya, Tails!"_

"_That's right. Naruto did say that."_ Tails looked down. _"Ever since we fought Dr. Eggman Nega on West Side Island, Naruto has been training me for this moment. He's counting on me to protect Sasuke and Sakura, and there's no way I'm gonna let him down!"_ A determined expression appears on his face.

"Who's there? Come out now!"

Tails blinked as he heard Sasuke's yell. His eyes widened in fear as he felt a sense of fear enter his being. It was like...like some cruel and evil person was almost near them.

His, along with Sasuke, heart suddenly stopped as they began to hear footsteps and a chuckle.

* * *

Naruto groans as he shook his head, holding a hand to it. "Ouch." He sat up and shook his head. "I'm gonna kill whoever did that." He told himself as he stood up and looked around.

"Great. Because of that attack I got separated from everyone." Naruto groaned in annoyance. He turns to leave before he stops as he heard something hissing behind him. He slowly turns to look up and his eyes flattened comically as he saw a..._very_ large snake slithering down towards him.

The snake still kept its eyes on him as it made it to the ground.

"This forest has giant snakes…?" Naruto paused for a moment before he smirks. "Pretty sure that's not normal, but whatever." He cracks his neck. "Finally something interesting." He took a stance. "Come on, you giant slithering bastard!"

The snake hissed again and charged at the red streaked blond, but he quickly jumped out of the way. The snake charged again as Naruto jumped over it and was running on top of it before he flipped off of it and was on a tree branch. He dashed off the branch and charged at the snake, performing a Spin Dash.

The giant snake seems to have sensed Naruto started to fight back as it turned to him, only to screech in pain, as Naruto slammed into it's body. Naruto back-flipped away from the creature and charged at it as yellow energy appeared in his hands.

**"Chaos Spe-!"** Naruto's eyes widened comically as the giant snake opened up it's mouth in front of him.

**Chomp**

And swallowed Naruto whole.

"OH COME ON HERE!"

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura were frozen in fear. The Grass Genin out in front of them had cast a Genjutsu that made them simulate their own deaths.

Tails still acted like a doll but his eyes moved to Sasuke and Sakura. He didn't know _what_ happened. Just now, the Grass Genin came and introduced herself as Orochimaru and told them that she was their...**death**.

After that, Sasuke and Sakura remained frozen for moment before they fell on their knees. Sasuke was coughing out his spit while Sakura had tears running down her face. It was like as if they saw something horrible and it scared them to the core.

Tails' eyes moved to this Orochimaru girl and his eyes widened as he saw her pull out two kunai in front of her, intent on doing what he thought she was gonna do. He noticed Sasuke began to struggle.

The Uchiha's hand inched closer to his weapon holster, albeit against his body's wishes. "Come on… come on…" He ordered himself.

Orochimaru snickered as she prepared to throw the kunai. "Such a shame, I was expecting you to be a little stronger than this."

Okay, all her focus was on those two and not Tails. He has to move. NOW!

"SASUKE! SAKURA!"

Sasuke, Sakura and Orochimaru's eyes widened at the sound of a young boy's voice. Their eyes widened further as they saw a spinning orange ball come out and hit Orochimaru's stomach, who still remained frozen in surprise, as she gasped out loud and was sent flying back.

Once she was gone, Tails quickly went to the two shocked Leaf Genin as they stared at him in disbelief and confusion.

"Guys! Are you okay?!" Tails asked worriedly before his ears twitched. He looks back to where Orochimaru was and his eyes widened as two kunai came flying out of the shadows.

Time seemed to slow down for the Sharingan wielding Sasuke as he tried to move but couldn't as he was still paralyzed with fear. He managed to get his own kunai out of it's holster as the two other kunai slowly raced for him, Sakura and Tails. Sasuke let out a cry as he forced his kunai into his right thigh, the pain being enough to break the illusion.

He managed to dodge it in time, just as the other kunai shot past where they once stood, sticking into a log that was a fair distance away. Sasuke picked up Sakura and Tails and leaped into the trees in a hasty retreat from the enemy.

Orochimaru raised an impressed eyebrow at the Sasuke's method of breaking her Genjutsu and she was more...amazed about that young fox that attacked her as she thought it was a toy.

Interesting...so that's what the third one had in that big backpack of his. He was hiding that two tailed fox cub. How _very_ interesting! She chuckled before pursuing them.

Sasuke, Tails and Sakura were hiding behind a tree. Sasuke looking out for Orochimaru while Sakura continued to stare at Tails in disbelief, making the cub nervous.

"T...Tails…?" Sakura asked in a whisper.

"U-Um...yeah. It's me. Hiya Sakura. Sasuke. Nice to...meet you?" Tails said nervously as he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"You're...you're alive?!" Sakura exclaimed. "But...but we thought you were a toy! How are you alive...and talking?!"

"P-please calm down for a moment Sakura!" Tails said as he wailed his arms comically up and down.

Sakura was about to say something but her mouth was covered by Sasuke's hand.

"Quiet! We'll talk about this later!" Sasuke told them in harsh whisper. While he too was shocked about Tails, now wasn't the time nor place to question him. He turns back to look for Orochimaru, not knowing about the large snake that was above them.

* * *

"Get me outta here you damn snake!" Naruto cried out. The Uzumaki was nothing but a bulge from outside a snake's belly.

From inside, the red streaked blond was mashed and compacted between the snakes guts and muscles. Even though he was tempted to keep screaming at the snake, he knew that was a bad idea as he would run out of oxygen in the confined and dark space he was in.

_"Shit! I'm in a forest full of people trying to kill me, and I'm going out by being this snake's dinner?!"_ Naruto thought angrily. And what a way to die this would be, digested alive in a place where there was absolutely no light, and where he was limited on air. No, he had to keep fighting. He dug into his holster and pulled out a kunai, digging the blade into the snake's stomach.

Unfortunately it was so wet and slippery that the knife slide from his grip. There wasn't a way he would be able to find it in the pitch black environment. He would've used his telekinesis to grab it but he couldn't concentrate because of this damn snake.

"You know what? SCREW THIS!" Naruto made a handsign. **"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**

The snake exploded in a wave of blood and guts as hundreds of Naruto's come out and they landed on the ground. They soon dispelled and the Original stood with a half-lidded expression on his face.

"Ew." Naruto spun really fast, getting rid of the guts and blood as they splattered everywhere. He stops. "Better." He took a sniff at himself and he wore a disgusted expression. "Yeah, I'm taking a nice long shower once we get to that Tower. Now to find-"

**Bonk!**

"Ow! What the!?" Naruto grips the back of his head as he hissed in pain. He looks behind him and he saw a small black metallic box that could fit his hand. He picks it up and glares out in the forest comically.

"WHO THE HELL THREW THAT!? COME OUT SO I CAN PUNCH YOUR...face...in?" Naruto stops as he heard something ticking. He looks down at the box in his hand. "Huh?"

**BOOM!**

The box exploded as it released dark purple smoke and Naruto was covered in it, making his eyes widened in shock.

"What ***cough*** the hell!?" The Ultimate Ninja coughed and gagged as he tried to wave the weird smoke away but couldn't as there was too much of it.

Unknown to him however, the seal that holds the Nine-Tails appeared. A mini tornado formed in the purple smoke and it made it's way to the seal as though it was entering it, with purple electricity dancing around it.

Naruto eventually ran out of it but he fell on his knees as he continued to cough out the strange smoke while it dispersed in the air.

The Uzumaki began to growl and tremble. He had a feral look on his face and his hair flashed to dark blue for a moment before he returned to normal and continued to cough.

"God damn it!" Naruto coughed. "What the hell was that stuff!?" He grits his teeth as he wrapped an arm around his stomach. "Shit…" He groans in pain. He took deep breaths as he stood up. "Okay. Focus. Gotta save everyone."

* * *

Sasuke desperately threw a flurry of shuriken that sliced through the snake that just lunged for him. The snake's corpse fell onto a tree branch and lied still, blood running from it's mouth and open wounds.

The Uchiha stood against the bark of a tree, trying to catch his breath. Tails had flew him and Sakura a hundred or so feet above the forest floor, before Sasuke told him to let him go. Luckily for Sakura and Tails, the Grass Genin was only pursuing Sasuke so they were able to stay safe.

On a small area of the serpent's body, the scales on the snake's corpse began to push up and crack apart, an obvious sign that something was coming out of it. The Leaf Genin and Fox Cub's eyes widened in fear as Orochimaru burst out of the snake's body, smiling up at Sasuke.

"Wh-What the hell are you?" Sasuke mumbled. His fear rose as the Grass Ninja gave him a snake like smile and licked her lips.

The entire fight Sasuke failed to so much as harm her, while she hadn't put in so much as a sliver of effort. Now the Uchiha was almost out of chakra. And Orochimaru knew that.

"I sense your fear and desperation. It's only natural. The prey never lets down its guard not even for a moment." The woman raised her head and stared at him with dark look on her face. "From its predator."

Like a snake her body stretched and coiled around a tree branch, intending to close the distance between Sasuke and finish him off.

"D-Damn it!" Sasuke ground out in fear and anger.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, hoping to get her crush to at least move.

"Oh no!" Tails quickly flew to Sasuke in order to grab him.

Just as Orochimaru was about to reach Sasuke's position, a yellow glowing arrow stopped in front of her.

"So here's a little trivia for you buddy. You wanna know why hedgehogs and snakes are common enemies?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in wonder. He looked up to see it was Naruto who struck Orochimaru, having caught her completely off guard. The red strealed blond looked to his shell shocked friend, grinning.

"Naruto!" Tails and Sakura called out happily

"Hedgehogs _don't_ make good snacks, especially for a snake." Naruto chuckled.

* * *

**Ending 2: Harmonia**

**Hey, can you hear me?**

A drawing of Tails, in his fox form, is seen, with his back turned to the audience. He turns back and smiles happily at the viewers.

**The sky is limitless and blue  
The sea is endlessly large  
To you, please remain smiling or else I'll cry**

Tails is flying in the Tornado. He waves to a bunch of birds as they waved back. He flew down just above the sea as the dolphins jumped out. Everything vanished and Tails is by himself.

Naruto, Knuckles, Amy, Sasuke and Sakura appears for a moment before they vanished, making Tails cry out before he sneezed and he transformed into his human form.

**You don't have to look around now, because everyone are in these hands**

Pictures starts to rain down and Tails watches each one that pass. All the pictures had everyone on them: Rock Lee, Iruka, Hinata, Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai, Shikamaru, Naruto, Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi.

**Wanting to cry, wanting to run  
If you forget happiness then sing  
Light was born and dark was born, the two is together  
Feeling harmonia, telepathy**

Tails, still in his human form, is walking around the woods, looking for everyone as the sun shine on him. A bunch of animals soon followed and he began to happily lead them as though they were a marching band.

One by one the animals began to leave Tails by himself. He looks in front of him and saw Naruto's back towards him.

A big smile appeared on his face as he ran to his best friend and jumped on his back, causing him to turn around in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. He turns around facing the viewers and looks at them.

**Hey, can you hear me?**

Naruto and Tails then gave the viewers two thumbs up.


	14. Ultimate 13

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 2: Far Away [English Version]**

***Instruments***

Squad 7 is seen staring at the sunset with Blaze, Tails, Amy and Knuckles there with them.

Naruto turns around and grins as he tossed a Chaos Emerald at the viewers before the title appears on it:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Let's hit the gas, it's time to go  
There is no need to hesitate no more**

**We are going on our way**

Naruto is on top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head as he looks up at the sky. Sonic, Shadow and Silver briefly appeared behind him, looking up as well, before they vanished.

Naruto had a surprised expression for a moment as he felt Tails jump on his shoulder. He looks back and saw Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke and Sakura behind him, looking at the two with smiles on their faces.

Naruto grins back at them.

**I might regret it it the end  
But I don't care how long we have to wait**

**We will live it day by day**

Images appear: One is Naruto is doing a pose from the Sonic Adventure 2 cover. The second is Tails waving happily to the readers. The third is Sasuke in an attack pose. The fourth is Sasuke and Sakura standing back-to-back. The last is Kakashi looking at the readers while reading his book.

The scene changes to show them standing in front of a camera. The camera flashes as Naruto and Tails appears in front of it, making goofy faces, much to Sasuke and Sakura's irritation while Kakashi looked at them.

The camera flashes again, this time showing Sakura punching Naruto upside the head, while Sasuke grabbed Tails by his twins and looked at him in annoyance, making Tails smile sheepishly.

The final shot is Squad 7 together, smiling.

**Open up your heart now**

**Pull your loved ones closer**

**Everything will be alright!**

Team Guy makes an appearance together, along with Squad 10 and Squad 8.

An artwork of Kabuto appears, smiling back at the viewers.

The Proctors of the Chunin Exams, Kurenai, Guy, Asuma and the Third Hokage appears.

Conquering Storm appears with her back turned and looking over her shoulder, a cold half-lidded expression on her face.

**I can promise you that…**

**Your feelings will get far~!**

**FAR~!**

Team Sand appears, before Kankuro and Temari disappear leaving Gaara by himself.

Naruto and Sasuke appear behind Gaara, in the background, as he motions his hands up, making sand cover the screen.

Naruto and Sasuke appear in a pitch black space. The camera moves to Sasuke as eyes, similar to a snake, appears above him.

***Instruments***

Naruto is lying down on the grass, staring up at the night sky. He sits up and his eyes widen as he saw Blaze, her back turned to him. Just as a black and purple mist, that has purple electricity, suddenly appears, she turns around and smiles at him. Just as Naruto reached out to her, and she vanished within the mist.

He calls out to her before he got consumed by the mist. Naruto screams as the mist enters his body before he snapped his eyes open, revealing that they are now slitted green.

**So hurry up now!**

**And let it all out!**

Conquering Storm, Neji and Lee are seen in fighting stances. Gaara has his arms crossed.

Naruto and the Masked Boy are seen glaring down at each other.

**Though my legs might hurt**

**I know I'll make it far**

**'Cause I will fight 'till the end!**

Knuckles is on Angel Island looking at the sky as the wind blows past his face. Tails is looking up fearfully at a large cage

Sasuke attacks Zaku at the Preliminary Round.

Blaze attacks a Shinobi as she sent him flying and burning in pain.

Naruto appears, in Nine-Tails mode, as he gives a yell at the viewers.

**I'm getting closer!**

**I know I'll get there!**

Amy, Sakura and Ino are seen standing back-to-back with Cherry Blossoms falling in the background.

The left side of Orochimaru's face appears as Sasuke's silhouette is on the right and he's gaining purple marks on his neck. Dr. Eggman Nega briefly appeared, grinning evilly as a screen appeared in the reflection of his glasses.

The right side of the Nazo's face appears as Naruto's feral face appears on the other side, though his sclera is green and his skin begins to turn pale blue.

**No matter what the cost**

**If you are there I know**

**That I'll arrive!**

Back at the arena, Naruto falls back. He looks back up and glares at Nazo as he brung a "Bring it" motion with his hand.

**I'm going far away...**

Naruto's whole body suddenly gained a neon-blue aura coating his body. He gave out a yell and a blue flash appeared.

***Instruments***

Blaze is on top of the entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village. She stares out at the village, holding her Lucky Charm, before she jumps down and runs off to where Naruto is.

The camera backs away from Naruto's serious expression and shows Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, The Rookie Nine, Team Guy, Team Sand and Conquering Storm.

* * *

Anko felt as if something wasn't right. After investigating the area around the Forest of Death, her suspicions were confirmed when she came across three lifeless bodies of Grass Ninja.

Upon further examination, she found that they were missing their faces.

"What?!" She exclaimed, clutching the back of her neck in pain. "No it can't be! Why is he here?"

Suddenly, a squadron of ANBU appeared behind her. She turns to them and briefed the squad on her findings and the person she believed to be responsible for the crime…

Orochimaru.

* * *

Naruto stares down at Orochimaru as she glares up at him. Tails quickly flew up to Naruto happily and came next to him.

"Naruto! Where have you been?" Tails asked.

"Had to deal with something." Naruto replied before he cracked his neck. "So what'd I-?"

"Naruto! You need to get out of here! What are you thinking!?" Sasuke asked. "You don't know what you're up against!"

"Oh?" Naruto raises a brow in interest.

"Hurry! Go now, while you can!" Sasuke continued.

"Well Naruto, it would seem that you survived against my friend. Well done." Orochimaru smirks.

"So that was _your_ "friend" huh?" Naruto asked in a serious tone. So it wasn't a random snake attack. She sent that thing at him. "Listen up, I don't know what's going on and right now I don't care! All that matters to me is that you were picking on my friends! And for that...I'm gonna take your ass down and make turn you into someone's purse!"

Sasuke opened his mouth in disbelief. "_Damn idiot! He's gonna get us killed! I have to do something! There's only one way…" _He deactivated his Sharingan and turns to Orochimaru. "You can have it!" He reached into his pouch, getting everyone's attention. "The Scroll right? That's what you want? Take it and leave us in peace!"

That shocked Naruto and Sakura to the core, while Orochimaru smirks in amusement at Sasuke. Tails could only blink in confusion at the exchange.

"Dude! What the hell are you doing?" Naruto yelled. "You can't just give the Scroll away! What's the matter with you?"

"Just stay out of it!" Sasuke turns to him and glared at him.

Naruto couldn't believe what Sasuke said. He actually sounded...scared. But that's not right! No freaking way! This was Sasuke! He's never scared! Naruto then narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru. Whatever this woman did to them, it scared Sasuke to death. But not only that…

"I see…very smart." Orochimaru said. "Sometimes, the only way to escape a predator is to give it a different meal."

Sasuke tossed the scroll towards their enemy, only for Naruto to used his Telekinesis to grab it in mid-air. He flies down till he was behind Sasuke.

"Damn fool! Stop trying to be the hero and just follow-!"

**Pow!**

Tails and Sakura's eyes widened in shock as Naruto punched Sasuke off the tree branch they were on before he flips and landed on one next to them.

"Naruto! Why did you do that?!" Sakura asked.

"Because...that's not Sasuke." Naruto answered coldly. He grabs the Scroll and puts it in his pouch.

"What are you talking about!? I am Sasuke you loser!" Sasuke yelled before Naruto appeared next to him and grips him by his collar, bringing his face close to his.

"Are you?!" Naruto asked back. "What happened to the Sasuke that managed to fight toe-to-toe with Haku back in Wave? Where's that Sasuke? The one in front of me is not the Sasuke I know! Surrendering the Scroll to the enemy, trying to run away, that's what cowards do!" A dark look appeared on his face. "And the Sasuke Uchiha that I know and respect isn't a coward!"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"You say I don't understand but I understand perfectly." Naruto continued. "You choked!"

Orochimaru chuckled, getting everyone's attention. "Sad but true." She soon licked her lips, making Naruto cringe in disgust. "It doesn't matter." She pulled her sleeve up, revealing a tattoo. She puts her thumb near her. "As far as Scrolls go, I can just kill you and take it." She bit her thumb, drawing blood and traced it down her tattoo, making Naruto tense.

"I like to see you try!" Naruto released Sasuke and charged at Orochimaru, he jumps in the air and does a mid-air Spin Dash.

"No don't! Naruto!" Sasuke called out.

"**Summoning Jutsu."** Orochimaru did a few hand signs before a gust of wind appeared.

Naruto stopped doing the Spin Dash and floated in the air as his eyes widen. It was another large snake, and this one was bigger than the one Naruto fought and Orochimaru stood on it. "Um...I think this thing is a little bit bigger than the last one."

**Battle Music: Boss 1 [Sonic Adventure 2]**

The snake lunged at Naruto, making him dash out of the way. He then used flies around it as he launched his Chaos Spears at it, making burn marks appear on its hard skin. The snake lunged at him again, but Naruto moved out of the way just in time. He saw a large boulder and he picked it up using his Telekinesis and launched it at the beast, only for it to dodge the attack.

Naruto was gonna move again but he stopped in mid air as he felt pain in his whole body, or more accurately the Seal on his stomach. "GAH!" He gripped his stomach in pain as the cyan aura around him began to flicker on and off like a light switch. "AAAAAHH!" He screamed as the pain continued to increase and the aura around him died and he fell.

"NARUTO!" Tails, Sakura and Sasuke cried out towards him.

"I gotta save him!" Tails was about to go and grab Naruto but stopped when the snake charged at the Genin and knocked him in the air, making him go through a bunch of tree branches before his body hit the biggest one, and he gasped out blood.

Naruto soon fell down, his arms still wrapped around his stomach. Orochimaru and her snake watched as Naruto fell and the snake began to open its mouth, in order to eat him whole like the last one.

However...

Naruto's eyes snapped open, revealing them to be crimson red, with cat like slits replacing his pupils. His expression became feral and his hair has gotten spikier. Fangs appeared in his mouth and his nails became sharp like claws. The whiskers on his face became detailed.

He flips in the air and raised his leg up.

"EAT THIS!" He does a devastating axe kick on the snake's head, making it screech out as shockwaves came out from the attack that destroyed some trees

"What?!" Orochimaru looked into Naruto's eyes and saw they were now crimson red. But she looks closer and saw the left eye was changing from green to red. She narrowed her eyes at him. Those eyes...it couldn't be!

Naruto gave a roar as he punched the snake's head as it was getting pushed back. He closed his left eye as he felt the same pain from before coming back, but he ignored it and continued the assault.

"N-Naruto…?" Tails asked nervously. In all the times they've been together, he's never seen Naruto act like...that! Especially if it was around Nega. He suddenly felt woozy for some reason. He rubbed his eyes, not noticing that they turned crimson red as well.

"Whoa...where did he get all that power?" Sakura asked with widened eyes. "And what's wrong with Naruto? I've never seen him so vicious before."

Sasuke remained completely still as he continued to watch the assault.

"Tch!" Naruto grit his teeth as he stopped the assault and gave a yell as he gripped his head, his face morphing into an even more feral look as his eyes continued to change from red to green as if something was fighting over his being. "GAAAAH!"

"Now! Attack!" Orochimaru ordered the snack as it hissed and charged at Naruto, knocking him back into a bunch of trees.

"Oh no Naruto!" Tails shouted.

_'Hmm, the fire in his eyes...there's no doubt about it."_ Orochimaru thought as a smirk formed on her face. She turns to Sasuke. "This is getting fun, now what will you do Sasuke?"

The giant snake lunged at Sasuke, who was to frozen to move, and Tails who was screaming comically.

"SASUKE MOVE!" Sakura cried out.

Tails quickly flew behind Sasuke's back and gripped his shoulders so he can fly away.

The snake stopped in front of them, but blood is seen flying in the air. Sasuke and Tails' eyes widened while Orochimaru looked on. There in front of the snake, with two Kunai stabbed in it's face, stood Naruto. His head was down, but he was huffing.

_"No way…i-is that Naruto?"_ Sasuke thought.

"N-N-Naruto...are you okay?" Tails asked.

"I'm fine Tails." Naruto replied. "What about you Sasuke? You're not hurt are you…" He raised his head and smirked mockingly at Sasuke, revealing his changed eyes and whiskers to the two. "Scaredy cat?"

Tails and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise at Naruto's feral expression as they saw his once ocean blue eyes are now changed to crimson and he had a slit. Sasuke looked a little fearful at them but Tails thought they looked cool...plus they reminded him of...that weird dream he had.

"Tch!" Naruto scoffed, glaring at Sasuke. "Just look at you, standing there frozen in fear like a rabbit. Get your head out of your ass and get in gear already!" His eyes widened in pain as he felt the sensation from earlier come back in full force. He grit his teeth to not howl in pain. "Damn it! What the hell did that smoke do to me?"

"Naruto look out!" Tails cried out.

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt something wrapped around his arms and chest and he was lifted off the ground. "What the-!?" He looked back and his narrow in disgust as it was Orochimaru's tongue. "Damn snake! Get this disgusting tongue off me before I yank it out of your mouth!"

Orochimaru brung Naruto closer to her and examined him. "_Extraordinary! So the Nine-Tails Brat lives…" _She does a handsign. She noticed that Naruto kept gritting his teeth in pain and saw his eyes shift from green to red with his face turning more and more feral while his hair is growing longer and getting spikier. "_But something seems to be happening to him. And whatever it is, the Nine-Tails is trying to fight it but is losing…"_

Small purple flames appears on Orochimaru's fingers as she used her tongue to lift Naruto's shirt up and reveal the seal. "**Five Pronged Seal!"** She slammed her fingers into the seal, making Naruto gasp out in pain before giving out a scream that echoed throughout the forest as he returns to normal. He soon fainted and Orochimaru threw him away.

"NARUTO!" Tails yelled. He jumps off the tree branch he was on and in a poof of smoke, he turns into his human form, surprising Orochimaru while shocking Sakura and Sasuke. "Naruto! I'm coming!" He flies over to Naruto and grabbed him. He begins to fly down.

"Hmm...the Nine-Tails Fox and a Twin-Tails Fox Boy." Orochimaru said, staring at Naruto and Tails. She chuckled. "Such a _fascinating_ discovery. I will come back to that subject later." She turns to Sasuke. "Now what will you do, Sasuke?"

Sasuke wasn't even paying attention as he was still trembling. Sakura watched as Tails landed on the ground and was trying to wake Naruto up.

"Naruto…" Sakura closed her eyes and glares at Sasuke. "Sasuke! What's wrong with you!?" She saw him continue to tremble as his eyes never left Naruto's still form. He...he really was scared of this woman. But that doesn't mean she's gonna not give him a lecture.

"Okay! Say whatever you want about Naruto. He may act like dork sometimes and he may even get serious when the situation calls for it, but at least he's doing something! At least...he's not a coward!"

Sasuke grit his teeth before he closed his eyes. But when he did that's when he saw _him_…

"_Do you really think you can beat me as you are now Sasuke? You're pathetic, if you want to kill me, settle for hating me until you can, hate me and live like the coward you are. Clinging to life, without honor!"_

**Battle** **Music: Boss 3 [Sonic Adventure 2]**

"_NO!_" Sasuke's Sharingan activated as he glared up at Orochimaru, who's smile got bigger. He immediately got into a stance drawing several kunai. "_All I've caring about is surviving so I can kill my brother! What a fool I've been, I see the truth now! Naruto, Sakura, Tails. If I haven't the courage to face this demon_ _how could I ever face him!?"_

Sasuke charged towards Orochimaru launching kunai at the Grass Genin who dodged themi. Sasuke landed on a tree and jumped off it, yelling a battle cry as he charged at Orochimaru. His punch and kick got blocked and he flipped over her, dodging a kick before back flipping away. Orochimaru soon ran at Sasuke, but in his eyes everything was in slow motion, so he was able to dodge and block every punch and kick Orochimaru threw at him.

Orochimaru soon used her speed and was moving from tree to tree, like a very fast snake, and Sasuke was able to follow her movements.

"_I can see."_ He thought to himself watching Orochimaru, who then charged at him, as he jumped out the way and did one of his Fire Jutsu, making explosion made of fire come out to where Orochimaru landed. "_I can see!" _He took a deep breath and gave a roar as his flames got bigger, making the whole tree get set on fire.

However, an invisible gust of wind surrounded Orochimaru as though she called it herself and used it as a shield. She smirks and went in the tree branch as the fire dispersed. Sasuke watched as Orochimaru was coming at him, making him jump away from her. He took a deep breath and went into a fighting stance.

Orochimaru soon smirked. "_He's good. He was able to keep up with my movements and see through to my attacks. That's it, right Sasuke? You can see me now can you?"_

Looks like this boy is truly remarkable just like Naruto and the Fox Boy. It would seem that his Sharingan keeps on evolving whenever he finds a new resolve when it has something to do with his friends. In other words, his emotions is what keeps on triggering/evolving the Sharingan. Truly interesting.

Sasuke soon reached inside his pouch, his eyes not leaving Orochimaru's even for a second. He took out two Gold Rings, drawing Orochimaru's attention as she looked interested to see what he was gonna do with them.

It was time to end this fight once and for all.

Sasuke held the two Rings tightly in his hand as they started to glow brightly. His eyes glowed a yellow color for a moment before they went back to their original crimson color and a golden yellow aura appears around him. He soon vanished making Orochimaru's eyes widen before she felt a fist hit her cheek making her fly off the tree branch. Sasuke appears behind her and knocked her down using an axe-kick to the head before he vanished again and landed on a tree. He gave a battle cry again as he charged at Orochimaru, attacking her in mid air. He kept this up until he appeared above her head.

He spread his arms and legs out and soon did a mid-air Spin Dash, much to Sakura and Tails' surprise. He charged at Orochimaru and landed a direct hit on Orochimaru's face. He slammed down on the tree branch with great force, making it crack. He jumped off her face and landed on the tree.

Orochimaru's body began to shake uncontrollably before she stopped moving. Much to Sasuke's shock, she turned into mud.

"Substitution!" Sasuke closed an eye as he felt something scratch his cheek. He back flipped away once he saw a barrage of Kunai flying at him. He jumped off the tree and took out strings from his fingers, wrapping them around a tree branch, as he swung away. He jumped down and turned his head only to see Orochimaru running at him.

She punched him in the face a few times before kneeing him and punching him again, making him roll back.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called out.

"Sasuke…" Tails looked down at Naruto's not moving body before a determined expression came on his face. He spun his tails around really fast before he flew up at Orochimaru fast, seeing she was walking towards Sasuke. "GET AWAY FROM SASUKE!" He soon did a Spin Dash and was charging at Orochimaru, who smirked in amusement at Tails.

She tilt her body to the side, dodging the Spin Dash but grabbing the twin tails as she pulled Tails back and punched him in the stomach, making him gasp in pain before kicking him to the tree as he slammed into it and fell on his back.

Tails coughed out spit before he looked up fearfully at Orochimaru as he grabbed Sasuke's back and was prepared to fly away before small explosions appeared on Orochimaru's back.

Sasuke quickly jumped out of the way, with Tails still on his back as he gave a yell of surprise for a moment before he started to fly backwards. Sasuke launched a bunch of kunai at Orochimaru and he had strings attached to them.

The strings spun around Orochimaru before they tied him tightly to the tree behind him. Sasuke, with a string in his teeth, did a hand sign as he glared at Orochimaru while Tails stopped flying.

"**Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"**

**Music Ends**

Sasuke breathed out a large breath of fire which took the form of a dragon. The flame followed the string connected from his mouth to the tied up Orochimaru and landed a devastating blow on Orochimaru. The flames was so powerful that it even burned through the tree she was on.

Orochimaru gave out a loud scream which echoed throughout the area they were in. Sakura watched the flames while smiling happily.

"He did it!" She exclaimed.

Tails stared at the flames with an awe struck look on his face. He knew Sasuke was awesome but he never knew he was _this_ awesome. He was a lot like Naruto. "So cool!"

The flames slowly began to die down before they vanished completely. Tails flew back down to a tree branch and released Sasuke as soon as his feet touched it and he landed right next to him.

"That was awesome Sasuke! You totally took her down with that!" Tails said excitedly as he looked at Orochimaru seeing her head down.

Sasuke didn't reply as he was panting tiredly.

"Sasuke! Tails!" Sakura ran towards them, smiling happily. "You did it Sasuke! You won!" A worried expression appear on her face, seeing him pant tiredly like that. "Are you okay? Don't worry, it's over."

Tails nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Let's hurry up and get Naruto so we can get outta here!" He grabs both their hands and began to fly but stopped as he fell down. "H-Huh!?" He tried to get up but he couldn't move a muscle. "I can't move!"

"Me neither!" Sakura exclaimed as she fell on her knees.

"No!" Sasuke struggled. "That's impossible!"

"Such mastery of the Sharingan at such a young age." Orochimaru spoke up, much to everyone's disbelief. "You truly are an Uchiha." Her voice began to get deeper.

Tails' eyes widened as he stared at Orochimaru's face. Around her left eye area, he saw yellow snake like eyes, pale white skin. It...it was as if a piece of a human skin mask was peeled off her face! And her voice...she sounded...just like a man! Who is this person?!

"Yes." Orochimaru spoke up in his true voice. He raised a hand to his Forehead Protector. "You'll do nicely." He removed it, to reveal the Grass symbol has changed to a musical note.

"Look, the symbol on his protector! He's a Sound Ninja!" Tails exclaimed as he struggled to move. Sasuke gave a yell as he too struggled with all his might to escape.

"You are definitely his brother." Orochimaru said, making Sasuke gasp. "Your eyes are even keener than Itachi's."

"What do you want!?" Sasuke demanded, getting angry at his _brother's_ name being mention.

Orochimaru tossed a scroll out and held it out in front of him. "That will have to wait until we meet again. Which won't happen unless you finish this test with the best scores of all." The scroll got caught in green fire.

Sakura gasped. "The scroll!" That was what they needed to pass.

"First you must defeat the Sound Ninja who serve me." Orochimaru continued.

"You mean...those guys are with you?" Tails asked in surprise

"I don't know what you're talking about but if you're finished just beat it! If we never meet again it will be too soon!" Sakura said angrily.

"Oh? He and I will meet again." Orochimaru did a hand sign and his neck began to stretch out, making everyone's eyes widen. And his head was heading towards Sasuke. He went to the neck and bit it, making Sasuke gasp.

"Sasuke no!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Sasuke!" Tails tried to his hardest to get up but he kept falling back down. He and Sakura watched as Orochimaru released his hold on Sasuke's neck before his head went back to his body.

Sasuke was trembling all the while, not knowing that a mark was beginning to form above where Orochimaru bit his neck. He grit his teeth in pain as he held onto his neck.

"Sasuke!" Sakura glared at Orochimaru. "You...what have you done to him?!"

"I just gave him a little parting gift." Orochimaru replied as Sasuke got on his knees. "Very soon Sasuke will seek me out. He will desire my power. In the meantime, I enjoyed the demonstrate of the powers you already possessed. I shall see you soon as well, little fox boy." Orochimaru began to go inside the tree he was standing on, giving out a last chuckle, as he vanished completely.

Sasuke gave out a screamed pain that echoed throughout the forest. This pain….this unbelievable amount of pain was too much for him to handle!

"Sasuke!" Tails and Sakura ran towards him, looking at him with worried and concern expressions.

"Sasuke what did he do to you?!" Sakura asked.

Tails saw something forming on Sasuke's neck, making his eyes widen. "Something appeared on his neck!"

Sasuke continued to scream out loud as Sakura was whispering comforting words to him before he lost consciousness, making Tails and Sakura gasp out loud.

"NARUTO! PLEASE WAKE UP!" Tails cried out to his best friend. "SASUKE IS HURT AND WE NEED YOU!"

"NARUTO!" Sakura cried out as well, tears falling from her eyes.

They flinched as a bunch of crows came out and were flying around, making them look up at them as the sun was setting.

"I don't know…" Sakura closed her eyes and sniffed. "What I'm suppose to do."

"Sakura…" Tails whispered as tears fell from his eyes.

What were they suppose to do now? What _can_ they do now? They lost both Naruto and Sasuke, the two power houses of Squad 7. Now...it's just him and Sakura.

"_Naruto…"_ Tails thought as he sniffed. "_I'm sorry...I couldn't protect Sasuke. You were counting on me and...I let you down…!"_ He continued to hear Sakura's silent cries. He clenched his fist tightly before he stood up and wiped the tears away. "_But...that doesn't mean...I can't protect Sakura either!" _He nodded to himself as he turns to Sakura.

"Sakura." Tails spoke up getting her attention. "We can't stay here out in the open like this, we have to hide! You carry Sasuke while I go get Naruto!"

"Tails…" Sakura spoke in a whisper.

"Don't worry Sakura! Until Naruto and Sasuke wake up…" Tails held his fist out. "I'll protect you! All of you! I promise!"

Sakura gave a silent gasp as she stared into Tails' eyes, seeing the same kind of determination Naruto always carried with him when facing a strong opponent which they might not have a chance of winning.

Despite wanting to ask Tails a lot of questions, she was more focused on the situation. First they needed to get out of here and then she can ask Tails her questions.

"Ok!" She nodded her head making Tails nod back as he flew down to get Naruto.

Unknown to them however, they were being watched by the Masked Boy, who watched the two with his arms crossed.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Blaze took a quick stop at a nearby town. She was inside a restaurant as she was looking over the menu to see what she would want to eat.

Right now, she was almost close to the Hidden Leaf Village, so she decided to get some rest here and get ready for tomorrow. She was honestly glad to get out of that gambling town and away from that dirty old fool of a writer. After spending one night there, she decide to leave due to the residents..._activities_ at night.

"Here's your food, dearie."

Blaze looked up, seeing a kind old woman there, smiling at her, with a plate of what she ordered in her hands. The Fire Princess smiled back at her as she sat the plate down.

"Thank you very much ma'am." Blaze reached into her pocket and gave her some money. "Here. It's for you."

"Oh no, you go on and keep it young one." The Old Woman smiled, before she sighed. "Honestly, if only the children around here were more respectful like you."

"R...right." Blaze sweat dropped as she recalled many young children acting wild and crazy, making her inwardly smile as she recalled a certain someone who's like that and probably still is. She looks out the window seeing the children but her eyes widen slightly from what she saw.

There was a young boy and girl, who looks like they were around 6. The girl was scolding the boy, who only smile sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in a similar manner.

However in Blaze's eyes, she saw her younger self and Naruto in the children's place. She shook her head and looked up in the sky, staring at the orange sun.

"Why…" She put a hand to where her heart is and clenched it. "Why does it feel like... something terrible happened to you, Naruto?" She's been having this feeling for a while now and she's been ignoring it.

But after seeing those children, the feeling came back.

"One more day." She told herself. She will be arriving to the Village sometime tomorrow. She's just one day close to meeting her best friend.

* * *

**Forest of Death**

It was now dark out. Tails and Sakura hid themselves under a tree root as they were watching Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto still remained motionless while Sasuke was still gritting his teeth in pain before he stopped and breathed easily.

"Looks like he's breathing normally." Sakura smiled a little bit. She looks to Naruto and Tails, seeing the Fox Boy looking at Naruto worriedly before while also keeping an eye out. It looked like he realized something as he turns to Sakura.

"Oh yeah." Tails smiled sheepishly. "I forgot that technically this is our first time talking to each other like this, even though I've been acting like a doll." He held his hand out to her. "Hi Sakura! I'm Miles Prower!" He felt his nose twitch. "Achoo!"

**POOF!**

Tails returned to his fox form. A sheepish smile came on his face as he saw Sakura's comical dumbfounded expression. "Um, just call me Tails…"

"R-Right." Sakura said nervously before she began to ask her questions. "Alright, what are you Tails? Are you a human or fox? Where did you come from? Are there others out there like you? Is it really true that you helped Naruto out on one of his adventures?"

As Sakura kept asking him questions, Tails head began to get smoke coming out from his brain and his eyes turned into dots.

"C-Calm down Sakura! You're going too fast with your questions!"

Sakura blinked and looked sheepishly. "Haha, sorry about that. Just a little curious."

Tails shook his head and laughed a little bit. "Aw, it's okay! Well, I guess I can start from the beginning."

As Tails and Sakura started their talk, they were being watched by the Sound Genin from before.

* * *

**Next Day**

The sun was shining brightly. Tails woke up and gave a yawn. He shook his head and blocked his face from the sun.

"Day time?" He asked. He stands up and looks around, seeing Sakura was asleep while Sasuke and Naruto were still unconscious. He quickly ran to Sakura and shook her. "Hey, Sakura. Wake up!"

"Huh?" Sakura blinked tiredly as she turned to Tails.

"It's day!" Tails exclaimed happily. "We made it through the night!"

"We did?" Sakura blinked the tiredness away and yawned. She looks up and saw the sun's rays. She smiled happily. "It is day!"

"I told you!" Tails said.

The two went stiff as they heard rustling in the bushes. Sakura fearfully took out a kunai while Tails got ready to do a Spin Dash. When the two looked at each other, they nodded their heads and turned around at the same time.

And what they saw made them get comical expressions. Sakura had a flat look and Tails' eyes became dots as he blinked. It was a squirrel that came out the bushes.

"A squirrel?" Tails tilt his head to the side in confusion.

Sakura's eyes widen as she saw the squirrel was coming towards them. What if it was…?! She quickly threw the Kunai in front of it, making it comically stop and run away.

"S-Sakura!" Tails wailed his arms up and down comically. "Why did you do that?!"

"...um no reason." Sakura replied as she sighed in relief. That was close. It was gonna set off the traps she placed.

* * *

The Sound Trio were still watching the two as they went back inside the tree.

"Huh, think she noticed the explosive tag on the squirrel?" Zaku asked.

Dosu shook his head. "No, it's something else, I think it's time we pay her and that fox freak a visit."

* * *

Lee hopped from tree to tree, careful not to make too much noise, as he landed on a particularly thin branch he noticed several leaves fall from the branch. A fire erupted in his eyes as he gave himself a personal challenge.

"If I can catch all twenty of these leaves before they hit the ground, Sakura will begin to like me." He imagines her smiling lovingly at him. ,"But…if I miss even just one…my love will be unrequited and…" A disgusted look come on her face. "She may even call me names like 'caterpillar brows!'" The fire in Lee's eyes erupted even further as he leapt off from the tree, intent on catching all twenty leaves.

One by one Lee caught the leaves….nearly snapping his spine on another branch but as he reached for the last one he noticed a squirrel struggling in pain as smoke was spewing from its back. Lee dove for the squirrel ripping the explosive tag off its back and throwing it at the closest tree.

"Who would do such a horrible thing to you little guy?"

* * *

Tails was looking around, spotting for any danger while Sakura continued to look at him. She was just about to fall asleep when a voice jolted her awake and made Tails tense.

"Awake all night huh?"

"_Not these guys!" _Sakura thought in despair.

Tails took a fighting stance as he saw three Genin and took in their appearance.

The boy on the far left had spiky, dark hair and dark eyes. A large beige T-shirt covered his upper body with the word 'death' inscribed upon it in kanji on the front. He also had a pair of snake-patterned pants, two black strips fastening his shirt to him around the shoulder areas, black sandals, a snake-patterned scarf around his neck, and a headband secured tightly around his head.

The guy in the middle, though he was slouched over, it was hard to tell just how tall he was due to this fact, but Sakura figured he'd at least be as tall as the other male in the group. He had bandages covering most of his face with the exception of the area around his left eye, had a large poncho with incredibly long sleeves, a snake-patterned scarf around his neck, and a straw raincoat protruding from his back where the scarf went around.

The final member of their team was a girl, who had dark colored eyes and extremely long black hair nearly reaching the ground, and was tied at the end by a violet ribbon. She was fair looking, with a green vest similar to a flak jacket covering her upper body, a snake-patterned scarf adorned around her neck, a pair of pants of the same color, and sandals.

He looked at the symbols on their head and saw they music notes...just like Orochimaru.

"Why don't you and your..._pet_ be good and wake up Sasuke, we'd like to fight him." Dosu told Sakura.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and drew a kunai. "What are you talking about? I know someone named Orochimaru is pulling the strings! What's his purpose?"

The Sound Trio were surprised that the girl knew their Master and that he was in charge of them.

"What is this weird mark on Sasuke's neck? You did this to him and now you want to fight? What is wrong with you?"

Dosu was surprised to hear Sasuke had received a curse mark, why would Orochimaru send them to kill Sasuke only to give him a curse seal beforehand?

"And what did Orochimaru do to Naruto?" Tails asked. "He did something to him and now he won't wake up! Tell us!"

Zaku scoffed at the little fox. "Whatever, hey Dosu I'll kill the girl and the little fox freak and take care of this Sasuke guy." Before he could charge he was stopped by his bandaged teammate.

"Wait Zaku, hmm you know girlie, a booby trap is pointless unless it goes unnoticed." Dosu watched the girl's face as he pulled away her ground booby trap. "She scared away the squirrel to prevent it from setting off the booby trap, kill them both."

The three Sound Ninja leapt upwards to take advantage of the terrain only to see a giant log falling towards them.

"Hmph, nice try kids but-" Dosu only stuck his palm outward and the log shattered into pieces. "You're gonna have to do better than-!"

Gold Rings rained down from the sky. The Sound Trio looked up in surprise at the Rings before they exploded around them, making them cover their faces.

"Yes!" Tails and Sakura cheered but then paled as they saw the Sound Trio was now falling down at them.

"**Leaf Hurricane!"**

The Sound Genin were each kicked away by a green whirlwind, their bodies slamming against nearby trees. Sakura and Tails were about ready to defend themselves when they noticed who was standing in front of her.

Rock Lee.

"Well then, looks like I'm just in time. Are you alright Sakura...and a two-tailed fox?!" Lee had a dumbfounded expression as he stared at Tails, who only stared at him with wide eyes.

"Um, hi?" Tails waved awkwardly. "And my name is Tails."

Before Lee could make a comment on Tails, Zaku's voice yelled out at him.

"Who the hell are you?"

Rock Lee slowly turns around and stared at Zaku before a smirk formed on his face as he took a stance. "I am the Hidden Leaf Village's Beautiful Green Beast: Rock Lee!" A twinkle appeared in his teeth.

"So awesome!" Tails said in awe as he stared at Lee in a whole new light while Sakura sweat dropped at the fox. Lee's smirk grew bigger as he heard Tails' comment.

"Lee, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, bewildered by his sudden appearance.

The boy looked back at them and grinned. "I will always appear whenever you are in danger, Sakura." He reached over towards his shoulder and gently grabbed the squirrel sitting on it, before setting the woodland creature on the ground. "It's all thanks to you, little guy."

The squirrel made a noise at him before running off with Tails waving goodbye at it.

Sakura gave the boy a smile. She may not like him like that, but at least he was doing something to protect her. "Thank you, Lee."

Lee gave her a thumbs up before turning to Team Sound. "I said it once before, I'll protect you 'till the day I die."

A happy smile appears on Tails' face. He turns to look at Sakura. "Wow Sakura, you're boyfriend is really nice!"

Lee blushed and stuttered at that while Sakura gave Tails a flat stare before she chop him on the head, earning a cry of pain from Tails. "He's not my boyfriend!"

Tails held his head as a tear comically hung from his eye and Lee had his head drop in depression.

Dosu eyed the green clad Genin wearily. He knew better than to judge the boy because of his terrible fashion sense, that speed he had shown proved he was good.

"_No matter how good he is, he's no match for all three of us."_ Dosu thought as he began to advance towards Lee.

"Zaku, you can have Sasuke, I'll take care of them." The bandaged Genin began his charge towards Lee. He leaps in the air and uncovered the odd gauntlet he was wearing, rearing his fist back to strike at the Leaf Genin, expecting him to dodge it.

Much to his shock said boy waited until he was halfway there before slamming his hands into the ground and pulling out a large chunk of rock and dirt. Dosus' arm hit the rocks, causing it to explode.

"While I have not seen you fight, I remember seeing you use that strange gauntlet against Kabuto." Lee stated calmly. "Because I don't know what it does, logic dictates that I shouldn't let you hit me with it."

Dosu narrowed his one good eye as he landed on the ground before rushing back towards the Leaf Genin. Lee waited for his opponent to calm calmly, and when Dosu was in range struck out with a right, left combination. The right fist was blocked but the left happened to fast for Dosu to see it until it was too late. Dosu stumbled back and was then kicked in the ribs and went flying back a ways. Grunting he got back up and was forced to jump out of the way when Lee sent a punch at him that was strong enough to make a crater when it hit the ground.

Lee stood back up and faced Dosu who came back at him. Dosu swung at Lee with the arm that did not have the gauntlet attached to it. Lee blocked the arm, grabbed onto his as he threw his opponent into a tree, leaving a small impression.

Dosu narrowed his visible eye as he pushed himself out of the impression he was in before charging at Lee again. Realizing that straightforward tactics wouldn't work, he decided a little deception was in order.

Coming in Dosu made a feint with a high punch, when Lee moved to block him; he switched attacks and came in with a kick that caught lee unawares.

By the time Lee had recovered, Dosu was nowhere to be seen. A kick to the back of his head sent Lee stumbling forward before he felt a hand grip his leg and toss him into the air, then slam him into the ground.

Lee got back to his feet and searched for Dosu. As he did he felt a presence behind and saw Dosu coming in with his gauntlet covered fist reared back, making his eyes widen.

"_I am sorry Guy-sensei, but I must use 'that' Jutsu!"_ Lee thought as he unwound his bandages.

As Dosu got within striking range, Lee disappeared from view before appearing below him and kicking the Sound Genin in the chin, hard. As Dosu soared into the air Lee appeared behind him, wrapping the mummified Genin in his bandages. Then Lee started to spin, slowly at first but it gradually picked up more and more speed until the pair looked like a drill plummeting to the earth.

"Oh shit!" Zaku shouted as he saw the speeding drill that was Lee and Dosu. "There's no way Dosu can survive something like this!" The spiky-haired Sound Genin began running through a quick series of hand-seals, ending on the Monkey Seal.

"Take this! **Primary Lotus**!" Lee yelled as he released his hold on Dosu.

Just as he was about to hit the ground Zaku slammed a hands into the ground and sent a wave of air towards the spot Dosu was about to hit. A few seconds later Dosu hit the ground head first, implanting himself into it with a little over half his body sticking up.

With a few wiggles and grunts Dosu got himself out of the ground and stood back up no worse for wear.

"That actually would have killed me had Zaku not softened the ground for my fall," Dosu said as he looked at his now tired out opponent.

"I-impossible," Lee muttered as he fell to the ground, his muscles having torn from using his Jutsu.

"It seems that attack you used has some serious backlash." Dosu mused as he saw Lee kneeling on the ground, panting.

"It matters not; I may be tired but so are you. I can still win," Lee said, giving Dosu a confident smile.

"Not in that condition you can't," Dosu chuckled. "And in case you haven't noticed I'm not the only one you need to deal with. Now I'm getting rather irritated at your interference, so I'll just finish you off now."

Dosu charged forward once again as he reared his arm back for another attack. Lee tried to dodge only to receive a jolt of pain for his troubles as the after effects of the jutsu kicked in. he looked up just as Dosu swung at him. Lee was lucky enough to dodge the attack, albeit barely, but before he could even think of retaliating his vision began to get blurry and a sharp pain filled his head as his ears bleed.

Lee tried to stand, but as soon as he moved he was forced onto his hands and knees as he began to throw up.

"Lee! What's wrong?" Tails asked in a worried tone.

"You like?" Dosu asked. "I call this my Melody Arm. With it I can amplify sound waves and use the vibrations they cause to break through your eardrum and damage the inner membrane making you lose your semblance of balance. You won't be able to function properly for a while now."

Deciding he did not want to be left out Zaku lifted up his hands and pulled his palms up to reveal the whole he had in each hand. "My specialty is the ability to control supersonic airwaves and air pressure, slicing up or blasting my opponents. To us, your Jutsu are laughable."

"As you can see, you have no hope against us. You put up a good fight, but it's time to say good-bye kid." Dosu reared his melody arm back, ready to strike.

He didn't get the chance to swing as a spinning orange ball connected with his jaw, launching him back several feet. Dosu looked up in surprise at seeing a fiercely determined Tails standing beside Lee.

"T-Tails?" Lee asked. Sakura stared with wide eyes.

"Pick on someone your own size!" Tails exclaimed.

"Oh? So the little fox got some spunk in him does he?" Zaku commented with a sneer.

"Yeah! And this little fox is gonna kick your butts!" Tails told him. A poof of smoke appeared around him and it vanished instantly, showing Tails in his human form.

Lee's eyes went wide with surprise as he stared at the...little boy with fox features. He looks like he should belong into the Academy right now! The Sound Genin eyes also went wide as well as this is the first time they're seeing this.

"A kid!?" Dosu asked. "The fox is a little kid?"

"Tch! So what? I'm still gonna take you down you little freak!" Zaku charged at Tails but before he could get close, Sakura had come and punched him in the jaw, sending him back as well.

"Sakura?!" Tails and Lee asked in shock.

"Lee...thank you very much for trying to protect us." Sakura said in a serious tone. "But now, let me and Tails take care of them so you can recover."

Tails stared at her before he smirks confidently as he nodded his head.

"Now you want a piece of this two pinks?!" Zaku demanded. "Fine! I'll take care of both you!"

"No you're not." Kin smirks. "I'll take on the girl."

"Oh yeah?" Tails took out some gadgets. "Bring it on!"

* * *

"Gah this sucks! We can't find any weak guys!" Ino complained, grabbing her head in annoyance.

"What a drag, unfortunately the only guys weaker than us would be Kiba's Team, because I am not going after Naruto." Shikamaru said.

If from what he heard about those rumors are true then that just means Naruto keeps on getting stronger and stronger every second. And he did not want to deal with him.

"Hey look! Sasuke and Naruto are knocked out cold! And Sakura is fighting with...wait who or what is that kid?!" Choji asked in shock as he stared at the Fox Boy that was fighting alongside Sakura.

"Whoa! What the hell-!?" Shikamaru looked shocked as well as he stared at the boy with fox features.

Ino was surprised to hear this and looked out to watch the fight.

* * *

"Hmm Lee's late." Tenten was surprised at her teammate's tardiness. "Usually he's accurate when it comes to time."

Neji sighed, he knew what that meant. "Knowing that fool he ran into the enemy, let's go find him."

"Yeah" Both took off hoping to find their wayward teammate.

* * *

**Battle Music: Character Boss [Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)]**

"Take this!" Tails threw a ball at them.

"Ha! What's that toy gonna do?" Zaku mocked. To answer his question, the ball let out a flash of light, making Zaku scream and cover his eyes. His eyes widened in pain as Tails used his Spin Dash and landed a hit on his stomach, making him gasp out in pain.

"You little-!" Zaku was gonna attack him before Tails used his twin tails to slap him across the face, making him slide on the dirt.

"_I...I'm doing it!"_ All those training sections he had with Naruto are finally paying off! Tails smiled happily. "_I'm really doing it!" _

Zaku charged at Tails, his fist raised to knocked him down. Tails does a Spin Dash at him but Zaku dodged it in time. Tails got up and threw some Dummy Ring Bombs at him, making Zaku's eyes widen as he dodged them.

But since there was so many of them, Zaku felt them explode all around him as he got blown away.

Sakura looked at Kin before dashing towards her; she flung several shuriken before going through a set of hand seals.

Kin blocked or dodged all the shuriken and looked at the charging pink haired girl only to see…three of her? She scoffed. "You don't honestly think a pathetic Jutsu like that is going to work do you?" She snorted in amusement as she threw several senbon at Sakura.

All three Sakura's burst into smoke with the one in the middle also being replaced with a log.

Sensing a presence behind her Kin turned to see three more Sakura, all of them doing hand seals. Kin gave a grunt of annoyance as she tossed more senbon, once again, the two on either end disappeared in a puff of smoke while the middle one was replaced with a log.

Kin spun around just as Sakura appeared behind her, blocking the punch the pinkette sent her before lashing out with her own fist. Sakura stumbled back, giving Kin the opportunity to knee the girl in the gut before kicking the back of her legs, forcing Sakura onto her knees. Then she grabbed Sakura by the hair, pulling on it as hard as she could, forcing Sakura to yelp in pain.

"Sakura!" Tails yelled as he was gonna go and help but he got kicked on his side and was rolling around in the dirt.

"Nice try kid!" Zaku sneered as grabbed Tails. "Hey Dosu!" He threw him at Dosu who caught him in a bear hug

"Hey! Let me go!" Tails struggled to get out.

"Sorry not going to happen kid." Dosu held Tails tighter, making him cry out.

"Well get a feel of this, it seems her hair is softer than mine." Kin's smirk turned into a disgusted sneer. "If you have time to take such good care of your hair, you could have spent it better training. You're not even a real Kunoichi are you, probably just a pathetic fangirl for the Uchiha boy over there. Hey Zaku! Why don't we kill that Sasuke guy in front of this little bitch!"

"Heh, it would be my pleasure." Zaku said as he made his way over to the shelter, ready to take down Sasuke and maybe that so called Ultimate Ninja.

Tears began leaking out of the corner of Sakura's eyes. Everything was going wrong, Sasuke was unconscious and about to be killed, and these people were going to force her and Tails to watch. These things weren't suppose to happen! Sasuke and Naruto was suppose to wake up and save them by now! And now they were both going to die.

"No! Sasuke! Naruto!" Tails yelled as he continued to struggle.

A yank on Sakura's hair brought her head back up. "C'mon, pay attention. My teammate is going to kill your boyfriend, I wouldn't want you to miss it."

Sakura's eyes widened. "_I can't let them kill Sasuke!"_ Sakura brought her kunai up, causing Kin to take notice.

"You don't seriously think you can get me like this, do you?" Kin asked with a superior smirk. "Don't be stupid, you're too weak to get me."

"Who said this was for you?" Sakura smikred.

"Wha-"

Sakura slashed the kunai up behind her, cutting off her hair and surprising Kin. Standing up the pink-haired girl reared her head back and smashed it into Kin's face, causing the girl to stumble back.

Sakura, threw a kunai over to where Dosu was, making his lone eye widen. He moved his head, only to loosen his grip on Tails, who broke free and kicked Dosu in the face.

They nodded to each other and then raced towards Zaku, who had taken notice, and began several hand seals. Zaku sent a blast of airwaves at them, but Sakura replaced herself with a log, reappearing on his left doing more hand seals and Tails flew away to the left

"Gah! You're so annoying!" Zaku shouted as he released more airwaves.

Tails quickly flew at Zaku with a his new invention, the Magic Hand. "HEY!" He yelled getting Zaku's attention. Tails spun around with the Magic Hand before he released it and Zaku's eyes widen in surprise. "**Magic Hook!"**

The heavy attack sent Zaku flying back before he bounced off a tree. Tails instantly dashed at Zaku and does a flip before using his tails to knock Zaku down to the ground with great force, it actually knocked a tooth out.

Zaku began to growl as he stood and began to raise his arm. "ANNOYING BRAT!" He felt blood splatter onto his face and he couldn't move for some reason. He looked up to see Sakura with a kunai in her forearm still descending on him. She jabbed her own kunai in his left forearm while biting onto his right hand and the two tumbled to the ground with Sakura on top and keeping Zaku from using his airwave attack.

"GAH! You little bitch! Get! Off!" He began to smash a fist onto her head attempting to get her off of him. "You goddamn crazy bitch! Get off!"

"Sakura!" Tails was gonna fly to them but cried out as he felt something stab him in the leg, making him fall down. He looks and saw it was a senbon. He pulls it out, making tears gather in his eyes before he looks up and saw Kin, a smirk on her face.

"You should be more worried about yourself than your friend Fox Boy." Kin then charged at Tails making his eyes widen.

**Music Ends**

* * *

"What do you want to do Ino?" asked Shikamaru, for once his voice not sounding lazy. It was a drag, but much as he just wanted to watch the clouds or go to sleep, now was not the time.

Ino bit her lip as she remained silent. She didn't know what to do, a part of her wanted to help her former friend. She could still remember how she first met Sakura, the pinkette had been getting picked on by Ami, a former classmate of theirs that had failed to graduate. She had helped chase them away, then discovered they had been making fun of Sakura for her large forehead.

Ino could still remember the day she had given Sakura the red ribbon she had used to wear back at the academy, claiming that if she made a big deal of her forehead, then others would simply make more fun of her. They had been best friends up to that point, until Sasuke had come along.

It had been six months into the Academy when Sakura had given her back the ribbon she had given the pinkette as a sign of their friendship, claiming that they were rivals from now on for Sasuke's affection. To this day, she and Ino were still enemies. And yet at the same time...they were still best friends at heart.

"Ino?" Shikamaru said, snapping the blond from her funk. She looked over at her lazy teammate to see the serious expression on his face. "She's your friend isn't she? Didn't you two know each other really well in the Academy? And I don't know about the Fox Kid, but I have a feeling that Naruto might have something to do with him.

Ino looked at Shikamaru, before looking back at Sakura and Tails, who were still taking a beating. Sakura getting punched and Tails' getting stomped, kicked or punched. A determined expression came onto Ino's face as she stood up.

"Let's get out there."

* * *

After bashing Sakura in the face several dozen more times, Zaku finally managed to pry the girl off. She had been pretty damn tenacious, hanging on like a pit bull once it got its teeth on a bone.

Zaku had lost count of the number of times he'd pounded his fist into the girl head, but the last one finally managed to dislodge her. Along with that annoying Fox. He looked up and saw Kin stomping him to the ground and kicking him.

As Sakura was sent sprawling to the ground, he stood up, a scowl on his face as he glared down on her.

"Stupid bitch!" Zaku growled, anger and hatred in his voice. "I'm gonna blow you away!" His hands were quick to come up, the blow holes within his appendages practically humming with chakra.

"S-Sakura…no!" Tails called out weakly, reaching his hand out. He cried out as he got stomped on his head, forcing it to the ground.

"What? You think you can save her?" Kin asked with a scoff, grabbing Tails' head and forcing him up. "Please! You're just a weakling!" She punched him in the stomach hard, making him cough out blood as he got sent away from her, hitting the ground with multiple thuds.

Tails tried to get up. He tried to get and fight so bad but he couldn't. They were too strong for either him and Sakura to handle. He swore that he would protect Sakura but that Sound Girl was right. He was weak. He wasn't dealing with Badniks or Dr. Nega. He was dealing with shinobi who were trained at a younge age to kill.

And right now, those Sound Team are gonna kill Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto too. And that made tears fall from his eyes. His friends...his friends are gonna die because he's too weak to protect them!

To Tails, everything was moving in slow motion as he saw Dosu walking towards Naruto and Sasuke, his kunai drawn, while Zaku was still beating up Sakura. Kin meanwhile began to walk towards Tails.

"_P-P-Please...s-s-someone...anyone...save them...my friends."_ Tails sobbed quietly. "_Please...save my f-friends!"_

"_**Get up boy!" **_Tails' eyes widen from the familiar voice. A voice that he hasn't heard in a while. "_**Get up and fight! I told you didn't I? You are my legacy! So don't you dare lose to those humans! Use your power!"**_

"P...Power…?" Tails asked in a whisper, eyes widen. "I...have a power?"

"_**Yes. The untapped power that lies within you! The power you inherited from me! It is time boy! Awaken it and realize your full potential!"**_

Tails' eyes widened as he heard his heart skip a beat. In that moment, time seemed to return to normal as Kin walked up to him.

"What's wrong kid?" She asked as she got ready to stomp him. "You giving up-

Tails suddenly grabbed Kin's feet from stomping him further and stood up, surprising her slightly.

"What the-GAAAAH?!" She felt her feet get crushed very painfully. Her screams however, got everyone's attention. She was then blown by back by a sudden eruption of red chakra coming from Tails.

The Killing Intent coming from Tails and the red chakra that's swirling around him, made everyone tremble slightly. They tremble further as they saw the red chakra take the form of very large fox from behind Tails.

"What the hell…?" Dosu asked in a whisper as his exposed eye widened in fear. "What is this kid?"

"Hey, hey. What the hell is up with this chakra?!" Zaku asked, a fearful look on his face.

"Tails…?" Sakura asked in a whisper.

Tails slowly looks up and everyone's eyes widen in fear. A feral look appeared on Tails' suddenly healed face. His now sharper and narrower eyes were now red with a slitted pupil, with black circles around them. His nails got longer and sharper, turning into claws, and he had very sharp fangs. His hair also got spikier and wilder, with his fox ears flattened against his skill and his twintails swinging wildly.

"**RAAAAAAAAARRRR**!" Tails gave out a roar before he vanished from sight, shocking everyone present.

"What?! Where did he-!?" Kin was interrupted as she got sucker punched and was sent flying into a tree as she slammed into it, making her gasp out blood.

"_WHAT?! SO FAST! And this chakra…! What the hell is that boy!?"_ Dosu thought. His eye widened as Tails appeared in front of him, grabbing his face and dragging him across the ground, making a fissure form. He was then thrown away in the air. "_Uh! He's gotten stronger! Where did he suddenly get this-!" _

Tails suddenly appeared in front of him once again, glaring and growling down at him. He let loose a roar as he slashed Dosu across the chest, drawing blood and sending him crashing back down to the ground.

"Damn it! What the fuck are you freak!?" Zaku demanded as he launched several kunai and shuriken at Tails.

However, one of his tails moved and knocked them back to Zaku, making a shocked look appear on his face before he tried to dodge them though some managed to get him due to their incredible speed.

"**RAAAAAAAGH!"** Tails roared out as he dashed at Zaku, before doing the Spin Dash.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell!?" Zaku couldn't help but ask before he got hit in the stomach by the Spin Dash, making him spit out blood as he got pushed back rolling on the dirt. He tried to stand up but he couldn't and instead turned into a coughing fit. "_What the fuck?! That hit just now was way stronger than before!"_

"_Awesome…"_ Sakura thought as she looked at the fallen Sound Ninja. She had no idea that Tails was _this_ strong. How? How did he do that? And where did that red chakra come from? She turns to him and saw he was on all fours and was huffing tiredly.

The red chakra from before was disappearing, while Tails' eyes and his appearance returned to normal. He then fell to the ground face-first.

"Tails!" Sakura called out as she crawled to him and picked him up, holding him gently in her arms.

"S...S-Sakura…" Tails called out weakly. "Are you...okay?"

"Oh Tails…" Sakura hugged Tails closer to her chest. This little guy...he was willing to risk his life to keep her safe from harm and now look what happened. "_Am...am I really this weak to have a kid protect me?"_

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to the voice and saw Squad 10 standing there.

Shikamaru on the left, Ino in the middle, and Choji sitting on the right. It became clear that only Shikamaru and Ino had come willingly, because Shikamaru was holding onto Choji's scarf, having obviously dragged the larger boy with him.

"What the hell is this?" Zaku snorted as he finally stood up. "No matter how many of you losers turn up the outcome is going to be the same." He was beginning to get particularly annoyed by all of the interruptions they'd been having.

This mission was supposed to have been simple and easy, find Sasuke and kill him. How hard was that!? He was already unconscious and those two little bastards shouldn't have taken much to put down! Minimal fuss, minimal risk.

Now they not only just finished a fight with some Taijutsu Freak that looked like he'd glued Caterpillars to his eyebrows, but the pink-haired little bitch and Fox Brat had proven to be more trouble than they was worth. And now they had to deal with this interruption!

It was fraying the end of Zaku's relatively short fuse.

"I-Ino?" Sakura asked in confusion. "Why are you here?"

"Tch!" Ino huffed, not bothering to look at the girl as a small smirk formed on her face. "Didn't I tell you before; I'm not going to let you show me up, Forehead. There's no way I'm going to let you show off for Sasuke and leave me behind!"

"H...huh?" Tails looked up weakly, seeing more Leaf Genin. He smiles weakly. Looks like help has arrived.

"They just keep swarming in, they're like bugs." Dosu mumbled, his single visible eye narrowing into a glare as he looked at the three new ninja now standing in the way of their mission. "These foolish Leaf Ninja will be sorry they ever decided to butt into business that doesn't concern them."

"What are you two thinking?" Choji hissed. "These guys are too dangerous!"

Choji knew that out of all the Teams theirs was likely the weakest. While Shikamaru had never outright said it, he knew enough about his lazy friend to read between the lines. All one had to do was look at the facts.

They had the Laziest Jonin in Konoha, who preferred playing Shogi than teaching. Shikamaru never trained, preferring to either watch the clouds or play Shogi with Asuma. He himself was always eating while watching the clouds or watching Shikamaru play Shogi. And Ino either only complained, fawned over Sasuke, or talked about how she would beat Sakura, which often involved Sasuke.

It was made worse because each of them only knew one of their clan techniques. Shikamaru was too lazy to learn any more. Ino was too busy being trying to impress Sasuke. And Choji was always too busy eating to learn.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Shikamaru spoke up.

"It's a drag, but we have to do this. Now that Ino's shown herself we men can't just run away."

"Sorry I got you two involved." Ino apologized. "But we are a Three Man Team, we do everything together."

"Meh, whatever happens, happens..." Shikamaru shrugged. "We'll find a way to deal with this."

"B-but I don't wanna die yet!" Choji whimpered as he turned around and attempted to make a run for it. However Shikamaru had latched onto Choji's scarf to keep him from leaving. "C'mon Shikamaru! Let go of my scarf!"

"Hehe, you can leave if you want Fatty." Zaku said, grinning darkly.

Choji stopped moving completely, all thoughts of leaving disappeared when Zaku said those words. "What did he just say? I couldn't hear him too well."

"I said you can go back into the forest and fuck yourself. Fat ass!" Zaku exclaimed.

"_Oh no…now he's done it."_ Shikamaru thought shaking his head. "_That word is taboo for Choji."_

Choji did a complete one hundred and eighty turn around as steam began to pour out of his ears, "I'm not fat you jerk! I'm big boned! AND NOW I'M GONNA SQUASH YOU!"

**Battle** **Music: Rising Fighting Spirit [NarutoOST]**

"Alright! Now we're talking!" Ino cheered, while Shikamaru muttered a quick 'what a drag'. "Take it away Choji!"

"With pleasure!" Choji put his hand into a ram seal. **"Expansion Jutsu!"**

Right before the eyes of everyone present, Choji's body quickly expanded to nearly three times his size. Too many, he looked like a giant balloon. His limbs and head were pulled into his clothing, with chakra coming out of the holes, turning him into a giant ball.

"**Human Boulder!** CHUBBIES RULE!" He cried out, somehow still perfectly clear despite being inside his close, before he began rolling towards Zaku faster than the Sound Genin expected.

"What the hell is this!" Zaku held out his hands and sneered. "It's just a rolling ball of fat ass! **Slicing Airwaves!**"

A blast of powerful airwaves was sent towards the rolling ball that was Choji. As the attack hit, the airwaves proceeded to slow the large ball down, but did not stop the technique in it's entirety. Instead, the two attacks seemed to be in a stalemate, with the airwaves trying to stop the green ball from running Zaku over, and Choji continuing to try and press onwards, unaffected by the airwaves. Neither force seemed willing to back down, and it looked like the fight would become a battle of attrition.

That all changed when Choji ascended into the air, moving out of the slipstream the airwaves created.

"What the-? My airwaves were useless!" Zaku shouted, his voice surprised and his eyes widening. It wasn't everyday someone saw a ball of fat move like that. "_And I can't touch that thing or it will rip my arms off, then I'll be crushed."_

Seeing the predicament his teammate was in, Dosu finally stood up and began to run towards Zaku. Before he could get even five feet he found himself frozen. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed his shadow was attached to Shikamaru who was holding up a hand seal.

"**Shadow Possession Jutsu**. Success." The shadow using Genin muttered, a bored yet victorious look on his face.

"My body…I can't…move…" Dosu found that even talking was requiring some effort. "This... this must be... some kind of paralysis Jutsu!"

Choji slammed into the ground, forcing Zaku to jump away lest he be crushed. While the Sound Ninja may have gotten away clean, the landscape around where Choji slammed into the earth formed into a large crater that was several inches larger than the Akimichi himself.

"S-so...cool." Tails had stars in his eyes as he watched the Ino-Shika-Cho in action.

Shikamaru put his hands on his head with the fingertips touching his head, forming an M and forcing Dosu to do the same.

Kin finally managed to stand up, though her back was still hurting her. She saw Dosu doing some very bizarre poses. "What the hell are you doing Dosu?!" She charged at Shikamaru knowing that he's probably controlling him.

"Ino! Now it's just the girl we need to take care of!" Shikamaru shouted as he used his hands to make a pair of ears on his head, forcing Dosu to do the same.

"Got it Shikamaru!" Ino made a triangle hand seal, aiming it at the only female Oto ninja. "Take care of my body! **Ninja Art: Body Possession Jutsu!**"

Before Kin could do anything, the jutsu hit and the dark-haired girls eyes seemed to glaze over. Ino's body swayed a bit before Shikamaru caught her, while Dosu made the same pose but caught no one.

**Music Ends**

"It's over now!" The now possessed Kin shouted as she pulled out a kunai. "If you guys move an inch I'll slit this girl's throat! When I can't sense your Chakra anymore I'll let her go! If you don't want it to end here I suggest you leave your scroll and get out of here!"

Both Dosu and Zaku just looked at her, confusing the Leaf Ninja. However, when a smirk formed on Zaku's face, Ino began to get a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Choji!" She shouted, just as Zaku held up a hand towards her and sent a powerful air-wave at the girl.

Choji managed to get there in time, but due to the position of his body and the fact that he was spinning perpendicular to the attack, he was unable to do fully block off the effects of the jutsu. In the end, while the attack may not have hit his teammate, Choji ended up smacking into Ino, sending her flying while he smashed against the ground several feet away, too dizzy to be of much use. The possessed girl hit the tree behind her, making her yelp in pain and cough up blood.

Because of the effects of the jutsu blood also started coming out of Ino's mouth.

"Ino!" Shikamaru yelled in worry.

"These…guys…they don't even care if they hurt their comrade…" Ino said from Kin's body as she lay on the ground. She couldn't believe that these type of people actually exist.

"Heh, I think you guys are confused about us." Zaku said, grinning darkly

"Our goals are not the stupid scrolls nor to safely complete this exam." Dosu continued, his eyes holding a dark quality that made him look slightly insane. "We're simply here to kill Sasuke!"

The Genin who had not known that felt their eyes widen in surprise. None of them could understand what was going on. Why were these people after Sasuke? As far as they knew, Sasuke had never done anything to warrant assassins coming after him. So why were these people so adamant on killing him?

"_Damn it! This jutsu's gonna end soon!"_ Shikamaru grit his teeth in frustration at the troublesome situation he found himself in.

"It looks like that girl's Jutsu allows her spirit to enter the body of another." Dosu smirked under his bandages. "However if her bleeding is any indication she receives any damage done to the body she enters. That means that killing Kin will also kill that girl."

"_Oh man, this is bad."_ Shikamaru was sweating up a storm as he realized how terrible of a position they were in. Not only were these Sound Genin stronger than they were, but they had now lost the element of surprise. The mummy looking Genin had already figured out his and Ino and Choji's jutsu were straight forward taijutsu attacks. No need for analysis there.

And now they were in a bind; his jutsu had worn off, Choji was down and too dizzy to actually do anything, and Ino had already used her only jutsu and it hadn't worked out as planned. Shikamaru knew he would need to come up with something to get them out of this, and fast.

_"Oh no...I...I have to think of something!"_ Tails thought. He reached into his pocket to see if he had any more gadgets he could use but he couldn't find one.

"Would you really kill your teammate?" Shikamaru asked, trying to stall for time. Anything, even a second or two would be good. The longer they lived, the better their chances of survival were.

"Psh, you seem to think we actually care about the girl." Zaku said, looking at the Leaf Genin with a grin. "The only reason she's even on the Team is because her skills complement ours. But if she can't even keep from getting caught in a worthless Jutsu like that, then she's just useless baggage."

"Bah, I can't take this anymore."

Everyone looked up to see Neji and Tenten on a branch several meters above them. Neji scowled as he crossed his arms, "Some small time ninja from a second rate Village like Sound fighting a bunch of kids. You call that a victory?" He scoffed. "How pathetic."

"They keep coming out like cockroaches " Dosu mumbled.

"Lee…" Tenten muttered as she saw her teammate in such a state.

"Wait a second, you guys were here the whole time?" Tails asked.

Neji turned to look at Tails with narrowed eyes. A child? What was a a child doing here...and what what on earth is he? He never seen a human like him before...if he _is_ human that is. He will worry about him later.

He looked at the two Sound Genin. He channeled some Chakra into his eyes, causing veins to bulge around the sides of his head, and if one looked closely enough, inside of his eyes as well. The glare he sent the Sound Ninja, enhanced by the bulging veins of his Byakugan caused Dosu and Zaku to freeze in their tracks.

"The kid with the bowl cut is our teammate; it looks like you went a little overboard with him."

"So what if we did? What are you going to do about it?" Zaku gave the Hyuuga a defiant glare.

Neji opened his mouth for a moment before he smirked and deactivated his Byakugan. "I don't have to do anything."

**Music: Supporting Me [Sonic Adventure 2]  
**  
Everyone wondered what he meant with that statement, but it soon became clear when a vile and evil chakra descended onto the clearing.

They turned to see Sasuke, still on the ground, but with a violent purple Chakra leaking out of his body like wisps of smoke. It wasn't long before the Chakra covered his entire body, encasing him in an ugly purple barrier.

"Sasuke, you're awake-!" Sakura gasped as her eyes widened in shock and fear as she saw all of the power he was emitting.

Said power soon exploded, purple chakra lashing out in all directions. Sasuke was standing, his legs spread out, the upper half of his body slouched down in a slightly feral position. The right side of his body began to glow with odd orange markings that spread across his face, arms and legs like a parasite, before they stopped glowing.

"S...Sasuke?" Tails gulped as he hugged Sakura like a lifeline.

"Sakura...Tails..." Sasuke said darkly, seeing the condition they were in. "Who did this to you?

As they all paid attention to Sasuke, no one noticed Naruto gritting his teeth in pain as purple electricity appeared from his seal. Black wisps were also appearing underneath him.

* * *

Blaze stood on top of the entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village, a serious look on her face.

"I'm here...Naruto."

But unknown to her and everybody else, something is happening to Naruto. Something very... _terrifying_.

* * *

**Ending 2: Harmonia [English Version]**

**Hey, can you hear me?**

A drawing of Tails, in his fox form, is seen, with his back turned to the audience. He turns back and smiles happily at the viewers.

**The sky is limitless and blue  
The sea is endlessly large  
To you, please remain smiling or else I'll cry**

Tails is flying in the Tornado. He waves to a bunch of birds as they waved back. He flew down just above the sea as the dolphins jumped out. Everything vanished and Tails is by himself.

Naruto, Knuckles, Amy, Sasuke and Sakura appears for a moment before they vanished, making Tails cry out before he sneezed and he transformed into his human form.

**You don't have to look around now, because everyone are in these hands**

Pictures starts to rain down and Tails watches each one that pass. All the pictures had everyone on them: Rock Lee, Iruka, Hinata, Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai, Shikamaru, Naruto, Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi.

**Wanting to cry, wanting to run  
If you forget happiness then sing  
Light was born and dark was born, the two is together  
Feeling harmonia, telepathy**

Tails, still in his human form, is walking around the woods, looking for everyone as the sun shine on him. A bunch of animals soon followed and he began to happily lead them as though they were a marching band.

One by one the animals began to leave Tails by himself. He looks in front of him and saw Naruto's back towards him.

A big smile appeared on his face as he ran to his best friend and jumped on his back, causing him to turn around in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. He turns around facing the viewers and looks at them.

**Hey, can you hear me?**

Naruto and Tails then gave the viewers two thumbs up.

* * *

**Author's Note:** YES! After traveling across the Land of Fire, Blaze has finally made it to the Leaf Village! Not only that but Tails has also used the power that was hidden away inside hin, even though it was only for a little bit.

Since the Nine-Tails Fox basically helped Tails unlock his chakra, his forms will basically be like the jinchuriki when they use their beasts chakra. Though it will be slightly different since Tails is Half-Human and Half-Tailed Beast and as you all saw in Chapter 10 Pt 2, the Nine-Tails also tried to change Tails' fox form since it reminded him of the Hedgehogs, meaning that when Tails uses more of his special chakra, the more his fox form will also change.

Something seems to be happening to Naruto! But what is it!? What's going on with him!? Find out next chapter! Leave a review guys and enjoy!


	15. Ultimate 14

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 2: Far Away [English Version]**

***Instruments***

Squad 7 is seen staring at the sunset with Blaze, Tails, Amy and Knuckles there with them.

Naruto turns around and grins as he tossed a Chaos Emerald at the viewers before the title appears on it:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Let's hit the gas, it's time to go  
There is no need to hesitate no more**

**We are going on our way**

Naruto is on top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head as he looks up at the sky. Sonic, Shadow and Silver briefly appeared behind him, looking up as well, before they vanished.

Naruto had a surprised expression for a moment as he felt Tails jump on his shoulder. He looks back and saw Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke and Sakura behind him, looking at the two with smiles on their faces.

Naruto grins back at them.

**I might regret it it the end  
But I don't care how long we have to wait**

**We will live it day by day**

Images appear: One is Naruto is doing a pose from the Sonic Adventure 2 cover. The second is Tails waving happily to the readers. The third is Sasuke in an attack pose. The fourth is Sasuke and Sakura standing back-to-back. The last is Kakashi looking at the readers while reading his book.

The scene changes to show them standing in front of a camera. The camera flashes as Naruto and Tails appears in front of it, making goofy faces, much to Sasuke and Sakura's irritation while Kakashi looked at them.

The camera flashes again, this time showing Sakura punching Naruto upside the head, while Sasuke grabbed Tails by his twins and looked at him in annoyance, making Tails smile sheepishly.

The final shot is Squad 7 together, smiling.

**Open up your heart now**

**Pull your loved ones closer**

**Everything will be alright!**

Team Guy makes an appearance together, along with Squad 10 and Squad 8.

An artwork of Kabuto appears, smiling back at the viewers.

The Proctors of the Chunin Exams, Kurenai, Guy, Asuma and the Third Hokage appears.

Conquering Storm appears with her back turned and looking over her shoulder, a cold half-lidded expression on her face.

**I can promise you that…**

**Your feelings will get far~!**

**FAR~!**

Team Sand appears, before Kankuro and Temari disappear leaving Gaara by himself.

Naruto and Sasuke appear behind Gaara, in the background, as he motions his hands up, making sand cover the screen.

Naruto and Sasuke appear in a pitch black space. The camera moves to Sasuke as eyes, similar to a snake, appears above him.

***Instruments***

Naruto is lying down on the grass, staring up at the night sky. He sits up and his eyes widen as he saw Blaze, her back turned to him. Just as a black and purple mist, that has purple electricity, suddenly appears, she turns around and smiles at him. Just as Naruto reached out to her, and she vanished within the mist.

He calls out to her before he got consumed by the mist. Naruto screams as the mist enters his body before he snapped his eyes open, revealing that they are now slitted green.

**So hurry up now!**

**And let it all out!**

Conquering Storm, Neji and Lee are seen in fighting stances. Gaara has his arms crossed.

Naruto and the Masked Boy are seen glaring down at each other.

**Though my legs might hurt**

**I know I'll make it far**

**'Cause I will fight 'till the end!**

Knuckles is on Angel Island looking at the sky as the wind blows past his face. Tails is looking up fearfully at a large cage

Sasuke attacks Zaku at the Preliminary Round.

Blaze attacks a Shinobi as she sent him flying and burning in pain.

Naruto appears, in Nine-Tails mode, as he gives a yell at the viewers.

**I'm getting closer!**

**I know I'll get there!**

Amy, Sakura and Ino are seen standing back-to-back with Cherry Blossoms falling in the background.

The left side of Orochimaru's face appears as Sasuke's silhouette is on the right and he's gaining purple marks on his neck.

Dr. Eggman Nega briefly appeared, grinning evilly as a screen appeared in the reflection of his glasses.

The right side of the Nazo's face appears as Naruto's feral face appears on the other side, though his sclera is green and his skin begins to turn pale blue.

**No matter what the cost**

**If you are there I know**

**That I'll arrive!**

Back at the arena, Naruto falls back. He looks back up and glares at Nazo as he brung a "Bring it" motion with his hand.

**I'm going far away...**

Naruto's whole body suddenly gained a neon-blue aura coating his body. He gave out a yell and a blue flash appeared.

***Instruments***

Blaze is on top of the entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village. She stares out at the village, holding her Lucky Charm, before she jumps down and runs off to where Naruto is.

The camera backs away from Naruto's serious expression and shows Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, The Rookie Nine, Team Guy, Team Sand and Conquering Storm.

* * *

**Ultimate 14: Darkness Unleashed**

**Chapter Cover:** Sasuke and Naruto stood back to back. Sasuke had the Curse Mark active but Naruto was completely shrouded in shadows as he looked at the readers, his eys glowing green and sharp teeth shown.

* * *

Naruto's eyes were snapped open as he stared at the cloudless orange sky. He blinks a couple of times.

"Huh? What's this?" Naruto asked himself as he sat up. He looks around seeing he was lying down on grass with a tree nearby. His eyes widen in realization. "Wait... I know this place…"

"Hey, Blaze." A young boy's voice said, making Naruto widen his eyes. He recognized that voice.

The Ultimate Ninja instantly turned around and saw a younger version of himself holding Blaze's hand as they stared at the sunset.

"Do...do you promise to stay my friend forever?" Young Naruto asked sincerely, much to the younger Blaze's surprise before she smiled and nodded.

"Yes. No matter what happens, I promise to always be your friend Naruto." She replied earning a happy grin from Young Naruto.

"Then in that case, I promise to always protect you!" He exclaimed as Blaze's eyes widen. "If you're ever in any kind of trouble and need help, I'll always be there for you! Believe it!"

Blaze's eyes continued to stare at Young Naruto before a soft smile and blush appeared on her. She nodded at him and turns back to the sunset along with Young Naruto. She slowly leaned on his shoulders, making a blush appear on his face.

The two of them soon vanished.

Naruto smiled softly and sadly at the memory. This hill will always be a special to him.

"_Naruto…"_ Naruto's eyes widen as he heard a girl's voice and she sounded very familiar. "_Naruto…"_

"Blaze?" Naruto asked as he looked around. "Blaze! Where are you!"

"_Naruto…"_

The location changed around him as it was now a grassy field. He continues to look around before he stops for a moment. He slowly looks behind him and saw Young Blaze's back towards him.

"Blaze…?" Naruto slowly walks up to her but soon noticed that the clouds had darkened to more gray color and the wind was blowing. He turns back to Blaze. "Blaze!"

Young Blaze slowly turns to Naruto and she had a dead look on her face. "Naruto…" She said in an evenly dead tone. She raised her hand up to him. "Why…? Why didn't you protect me?" Naruto's eyes widened from that question. He blinks and saw she vanished, making him look around for her.

"You were suppose to protect me Naruto."

Naruto instantly turns around and saw Blaze behind him, her head down. He slowly walks up to her.

"Blaze?"

"You said you would protect me. But you didn't! You...you lied to me!" Blaze told him, making him stop mid-step as he looked at her with widened eyes, seeing tears in her eyes.

"Blaze, I…" Naruto tried to say something but he couldn't cause she vanished. He looks around for her.

"So why?" Naruto turns around to see Blaze behind him, her head down. "Why did you let me go? Didn't...didn't you want to be my friend…? Was that a lie?"

"NO! It wasn't a lie! I meant every word I said to you back then!" Naruto exclaimed as his eyes began to water. "You're my best friend! Someone very important to me! And I would do just about anything I can do to find you! "

"Then why didn't you find me yet?" Blaze asked, making Naruto's eyes widen. "While I was gone, you made so many friends did you not? You formed many bonds with others did you not? You ended up forgetting about me. No, you didn't forget me...you _abandoned_ me!"

"No! I would never abandon you!" Naruto cried out.

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU KEEP YOUR PROMISE!?" Blaze shouted as she looks up at him with eyes similar to the villagers and shinobi from back then, making Naruto step back. He was always scared that one day Blaze would look at him with eyes like everyone in the village.

"Blaze…" Naruto softly whispered, tears falling from his eyes. "Please I'm sorry…"

"...it's too late for sorry, **Naruto**." Blaze finished softly in a slight demonic voice that made Naruto gasp in shock as he saw her eyes turn purple while her sclera was black.

The Ultimate Ninja's eyes widened as he saw a black/purple mist suddenly appear behind Blaze. The mist pushed Blaze forward into Naruto. "BLAZE!" He held his arms to her but she vanished, making him look down. "NO! BLAZE!"

The mist soon surrounded Naruto as he looked around in shock and confusion. Just what the hell was going on?!

He was now in an empty black space. The mist around Naruto soon gathered up in front of him and he tensed as he saw glowing eyes appear. He shook in fear as the mist began to take shape of a... _gigantic_ monster, making Naruto back away fearfully as the monster got bigger and bigger.

The monster's eyes glowed brighter as it gave out a roar and charged at Naruto, making his eyes widen, as it slammed into him and entered his body.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Naruto screams out in pain before it slowly died down as he was now covered in the dark energy.

…

…

…

**ump…**

**Bump...**

**Ba-bump...**

**Ba-bump...**

**Ba-bump…!**

Glowing green eyes suddenly snapped open in the dark space.

* * *

Naruto's eyes were snapped open, showing his shrunk pupils as electricity came out of the seal on his stomach. In his ears, he could hear his heart began to beat louder as his chest moved up and down.

However, nobody wasn't even paying to him. They were focused on Sasuke as the purple sinister chakra still circled around him.

Everyone, except for Neji, around felt shivers run up their spines as they just looked at Sasuke with fearful expressions, they can clearly see the black markings that were on his left arm all the way up to the left side of his face.

"Sakura...Tails...who did this to you?" Sasuke asked them in a dark tone. The two didn't answer as they just stared at him. He asked once more. "Who was it?"

_"Those marks..."_ Dosu thought. _"They're all over his body..."_

"Sasuke, what happened to you?" Sakura asked as Tails shook fearfully.

Sasuke looked down at his hand. He could feel it. The power from that mark on his neck. He could feel it surging through him. It felt...incredible! He looked back up to the Sound Trio.

"Don't worry. I'm alright. It's only the power surging through me." Sasuke said. He clenched his fists. "In fact," He starts to remember Orochimaru. "I've never felt better. He gave me this gift."

"W-What d-do you mean?" Tails asked.

"He helped me realize what I am. I'm an avenger. To follow my path, I must have power at any price! Even if it means being consumed by evil." Sasuke explained.

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered.

_"Now I see..."_ Dosu thought with his eyes widened. "_Those marks on the back of his neck the girl and kid spoke of. The Curse Mark. But who would've thought he would have survived! More than survive!"_

"Sakura, tell me, which of these people did this to you and Tails." Sasuke said, wanting to test this power out and punish those who would dare hurt his Team.

"That'd be me." Sasuke turned his Sharingan eyes to the side to look at Zaku, who was smirking at him. He turned to fully face him.

Shikamaru's eyes widened fearfully. He quickly turns to Ino. "Ino!" He yelled getting the possessed Sound Genin's attention. "Get back in your body! You don't want to get involve in this! Choji you too!"

"Right!" Choji nodded as he joined Shikamaru.

Kin (Ino) did a hand-sign. **"Mind Transfer: Release!"**

With that done, Ino returned to her original body as she woke up and looked at Shikamaru as he nodded his head.

"Ha! So now that you're finally awake." Zaku said as he stepped towards Sasuke, a smirk on his features. "I can finally kill you!"

**Battle** **Music: Almost Dead [Shadow the Hedgehog OST]**

Dosu was the only one who knew what that seal was, having seen it on four others who were Orochimaru's elite guards. He knew that his teammate didn't stand a chance against Sasuke as he was now, and tried to stop his fellow teammate from attacking the Uchiha.

"Zaku don't-!"

However it was too late as Zaku held out his palms.

**"Extreme Decapitating Air Waves!"**

The blast of slicing airwaves that emitted from Zaku's hand's were incredible. Everyone was forced to crouch down and cover their eyes as the immense pressure displaced the air around them, causing many of those in attendance to be nearly blown off their feet.

When the Jutsu finally ended, the many groups that had converged saw that the land in front of Zaku had been turned into a large trench several feet wide and nearly a foot deep. It stretched out for all the way to the tree that Sasuke and Naruto had been lying under, which looked like a giant had taken a bite out of it.

"Ha... ha..."

Zaku was breathing heavily as he stood there, his feet spread shoulder width apart, slightly crouched, with his hands held out in front of him. However, despite his obvious state of exhaustion, he had a proud smirk on his face.

"Heh, look at that." Zaku said with a huff, his tone somehow managing to retain it's arrogance despite his exhausted state. "Blew that little shit to pieces!"

"Blew who away?"

Zaku's eyes widened as he heard the voice behind him. He tried to turn around, but wasn't given the chance to do much of anything as he was pounded in the back of the head by a fist. Hard.

With a shout of pain and surprise, Zaku was sent flying. He soared through the air, right until his body hit the ground with a loud smack that rang across the clearing. His brutal tumble ended and Zaku managed to just push himself up onto his hands and knees. As he did so, his wide eyes strayed over to Sasuke, who was standing in the same spot he had hit Zaku from, Sakura and Tails standing just a few feet behind him.

"Such speed!" Dosu cried out in surprise. "He managed to get his Team out of harm's way in the blink of an eye!"

Everyone else seemed just as surprised as Dosu was. Well, Zaku was still quivering in shock and more than a little fear, but the members of Squad 10 and Team Guy were staring at Sasuke in shock and fear – even Neji had a surprised look in his eyes.

Sasuke smirked In excitement. This was so powerful! So incredible! His hands came up and soon ran through a quick gauntlet of seals, ending on the tiger seal, the seal for all fire jutsu.

**"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"**

Sasuke sucked in a deep breath, then released it in quick bursts. Several flames erupted from his mouth and took the shape of fireballs. The volley of fiery destruction sped towards Zaku, who had finally managed to get back to his feet and regained his bravado, even if most of it was faked.

"I'm not gonna let you get the best of me!" The Sound Genin stuck his hands out and released a powerful burst of airwaves that smacked against the fireballs, putting the flames out...

Only to find that Sasuke had hidden shuriken inside of the flames. Zaku had no time to do anything other then get his arms up to cover his face as the shuriken came at him. He screamed in pain as they struck, slicing up his arms and legs. A few managed to embed themselves in his body, causing further damage.

"Zaku!" Dosu shouted. "Get down!"

"Huh?"

Before Zaku could do much of anything, Sasuke was already there, sliding across the ground as if he were on ice. The Uchiha Heir was quick to move behind Zaku, grabbing both of the older boys wrists, then raising his left leg.

"Gah!"

His foot stomped on Zaku's back, forcing the boy onto his knees, his arms held in a painful position behind his back. His eyes widened further, and more pain erupted from his arms as Sasuke pulled on them.

While the Sound Ninja could not see it, everyone else noticed the sick and twisted grin on Sasuke's face. Clearly, he was enjoying himself.

"Sakura..." Tails hugged Sakura as they saw the look Sasuke had on his face. "I'm scared Sakura…"

Sakura didn't say nothing but she did hug Tails back.

"You seem to be very proud of these arms of yours." Sasuke said, grinning as he toyed with the boy. He couldn't see it, but just knowing that Zaku's eyes were wide in a mixture of shock, pain and fear made him grinned darkly. "You must be..._very_ attached to them."

Zaku just barely managed to turn his head when he felt the foot on his back began to put more pressure on him. His eyes widen in horror. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! NO! STOP! I – AAAAHHH!"

**CRACK!**

**Music Ends**

The sound of Zaku's arms breaking like a couple of twigs rang throughout the forest. Everyone there watched in horror as the Sound Ninja's arms were bent in a way that defied human anatomy. The arms were now mangled and twisted in such a way that it would be a miracle to get them fixed without a medical ninja, or some very painful manual repositioning.

Zaku, his senses overloaded with pain and his mind unable to fully comprehend what was happening, ended up passing out. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and as Sasuke let go of his arms, he fell down to the ground with a dull thud.

With the one arrogant enough to actually challenge him now beaten, Sasuke looked up at the others in the clearing. Everyone cringed at the insane gleam in his eyes.

Sakura was shocked. This…this wasn't the Sasuke she knew. This thing was a monster, he was not the boy she knew, the boy she trained with, the boy she cared for. Sakura could see Sasuke stalking towards Dosu with a menacing gleam in his eye

"Now who's next?" Sasuke asked as he advanced on Dosu, who began backing away in fright. The Uchiha noticed this and grinned. "Scared? That's too bad, I was hoping you would provide more entertainment than that other one, but it looks like I'm not going to get even that."

"Please stop..." Sakura whispered, getting Tails attention.

"Sakura...?" Tails asked.

"Sasuke...please stop it..." Sakura pleaded this time, tears coming out of her eyes.

However, before Sasuke could get to Dosu another powerful energy came crashing down on the clearing, this one so potent that everyone, even Sasuke, was forced to their knees as they struggled to breathe.

No one could pinpoint the source of this power, mainly because no one could actually lift there heads to look.

Only Neji would have been capable of seeing where the source was coming from due to his Byakugan, and he had been forced turn it off, lest the chakra saturating the area blind him for a moment.

"N...Now what!?" Shikamaru asked. "Who...who is it now!?'

Tails weakly looked behind him and his eyes widened as he saw Naruto slowly rise up before he stood and he had black energy surrounding his being.

"Naruto!" He yelled, causing everyone to look at him.

They watched as Naruto's head was down with his eyes being shadowed by his hair. The energy around him soon turned into an aura as it blew his hair upwards. He slowly looks up and glares at everyone, showing his now feral appearance and glowing green eyes.

**"RAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" **Naruto's animalistic roar echoed out as the black/purple energy erupted from him and shot up to the sky like a pillar.

* * *

The Citizens and Shinobi of the Leaf Village all felt a powerful presence from the roar they heard. They looked up to the source of it and they gasped in shock as they saw a black/dark purple pillar coming from the Forest of Death.

They began to grow worried/scared as they whispered to themselves. The presence they felt just now was almost similar to the Nine-Tails...but this one...this one was just…dark and more evil. And that's the only way to describe it.

"WHOA! What the hell is that!?"

"I never seen chakra with that kind of color before!"

"I don't think that even _is_ chakra."

"What does that mean?"

"What the hell is going on and what was that roar from earlier!?"

While they continued to talk amongst themselves, on top of a building stood Blaze. She looked at the pillar, seeing it in the middle of a forest. Deep down in her heart, she knew exactly who it was that caused that and made that roar.

"Naruto!" She said. Something was happening to Naruto! She has to hurry! She quickly jumped off the building and dashed to the location of the pillar hoping to reach her dear childhood friend in time.

* * *

The Hokage and some Jonin were looking outside at the source of the roar and it's presence it gave off. They saw the energy pillar. They had never seen that kind of chakra before nor felt this presence! It was even powerful than the Nine-Tails! They all grew worried about the roar, especially the Hokage, somehow knowing that it was Naruto.

"Lord Hokage." Kakashi spoke up.

"No." The Third shook his head, already knowing what he was going to ask. "You should know that this Chunin Exam is only for Genin. We, as the Hokage and Jonin, have no right to interrupt them."

"But…!" Kakashi said in a worried and concerned tone.

"I know Kakashi...I know" Hiruzen said. "We just have to hope and pray that whatever is out there isn't near our Genin."

Kakashi looked at the Old Hokage before he nodded at him. He looked at the pillar and clenched his fist.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Kiba asked as he was on his knees. Akamaru whimpered in fear as he hid in Kiba's jacket.

He and his team felt the incredible power and heard that roar. This presence in the air...it was powerful than that Sand guy!

Hinata coughed in her hand as she looked at Shino, seeing that he was leaning on a tree for support. She looked at the sky and saw the pillar of energy. She then began to grow worried as she thought about her crush, an uneasiness feeling inside her.

_"Please be safe...Naruto!"_

* * *

Conquering Storm and her Team were on the ground as they tried to get up.

"This...presence...what is it?" One of her teammates asked.

Storm did not answer. She looks up and her eyes widened as she saw the pillar of energy. What is going on here? And who is the cause of it?

* * *

"This...this feeling…" Gaara spoke as he stood up. He looks to Kankuro and Temari seeing them struggle to stand up as the pressure was too much for them.

He looks up at the pillar in the sky with narrowed eyes. Who is it? Who is that giving off this strange feeling…? And...why was he shaking?

* * *

As Naruto stopped his roar, the energy around him began to slowly disappear, allowing everyone to see him. But as they did, they all had shocked, disbelief and fearful expressions.

"N...Naruto…?" Tails whispered.

Naruto's entire skin turned into a lighter shade of blue. His hair got longer, reaching to his waist, but it changed color. It was now dark blue with the streaks in his hair and the tips turned grey. The whiskers on his cheeks changed into purple markings. He had gotten bigger, causing his jacket and shirt to get ripped to shreds, showing everyone his more defined muscle mass. His gloves were also ripped to shreads and the Inhibitor Rings that he always wore had mysteriously vanished. He had fur on his wrists and his hands had sharp claws. His teeth now had sharp fangs. His shoes also got destroyed in the process, possibly due to the energy he unleashed earlier.

His Forehead Protector blew off after he unleashed his energy and it landed in front of Tails.

Everyone was beyond shock at the sight before them. They couldn't believe that one of their classmates had transformed into this...thing! Sasuke was bad enough since he now has that strange power...but now Naruto!? Just what the hell happened to them?!

"N...Naruto...is that...you...?" Sakura asked nervously, not sure if it was actually him.

Sasuke didn't say anything. He just stared at his teammate with a look of shock and disbelief. Just what the hell happened to Naruto? What did he...do to him!?

**"ARRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!"** Naruto roared again, causing everyone to cover their ears. Much to their shock, he appeared in front of Dosu in a second.

_"So fast!"_ Dosu thought in shock. "_He's even faster than Sasuke and the Fox Brat!"_

Naruto grabbed the Sound Genin's face, turning around while roaring. Everyone thought he was going to throw him, but much to their shock, his arm just stretched out just like that and he was still holding onto Dosu.

They flinched as Naruto slammed him into a tree, causing it to snap in half, but he didn't let go. He pulled Dosu towards him as his eyes widened in fear, seeing him rear his fist back.

**"RAAAAAAAHHHH!"** Naruto roared as he punched Dosu's face and sent him flying into another tree. He roared once more.

"What the hell!? First Sasuke and now Naruto!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"I wanna go home now!" Choji said in fear as he was shaking uncontrollably.

"What is this?" Neji asked as he activated his Byakugan. And to his disbelief, this transformation wasn't because of his chakra. He's not even using it! This was...something else! There was dark energy inside his being.

Naruto roared once more as he looked around at everyone but then his eyes landed on Kin as she looked at him in shock. He roared again as he charged at her on all fours and jumped in the air. He pulled his fist back as it began to glow purple. He then sent his arm to her as it stretched towards her.

She attempted to block it but couldn't as it slammed into her, sending her to a tree as she gasped out blood. Naruto appeared before her, his face in hers as he head butt her hard, knocking her out. He got on all fours as he landed on the ground, looking at everyone as they stared at him.

He soon vanished.

"W-Where did he go?" Choji asked fearfully. His eyes widened as he felt a presence behind him, along with Shikamaru and Ino. They looked back and saw Naruto glaring down at them with a snarl on his face.

He grabbed Choji and Shikamaru by their face, giving out a roar and thows them into the clearing, making them bounce off the ground before sliding on it. He turns to Ino, who was shaking fearfully while staring at Naruto. She tries to run away but got grabbed by the ankle and was pulled towards him, making her cry out in fear.

"No! Stop! Please Naruto! It's Ino!" Sakura pleaded.

"Naruto!" Tails cried out.

Naruto gave a snarl as he looked down at Ino before he raised his hand up as if he was gonna back slap her, making her eyes widen in fear. However, he stopped as he sensed an incoming attack. He released Ino, who crawled away, and turns to see a barrage of fireballs. He gave out a roar, making the fireballs disappear before he got kicked in the back of the head.

He got on all fours and glares angrily at whoever attacked him. It was Sasuke. He gave a roar and charged at him as Sasuke charged as well. Their fists connected with each other, before they jumped away.

Naruto stretched his arms out to grab Sasuke, but he jumped and ran along his arm, making Naruto roar. He used his other hand to catch Sasuke's feet from hitting his face before throwing him away. Naruto then jumps in the air to where Sasuke was and the two sent punches/kicks at each other, each of them dodging or blocking their attacks.

Sasuke soon kicked Naruto across the face while the transformed teen clawed at the Uchiha's shirt, making it tear as blood came out, causing Sauske to grit his teeth.

Sakura gasped in fear from that while Tails tensed up. Everyone else had smiliar reactions.

"This...this is insane." Shikamaru remarked as he watched the fight, seeing Naruto punching Sasuke in the stomach before he kicked him away. "It's like both monsters trying to kill each other." Choji and Ino were still shaking as their eyes was filled with fear.

Sakura just wanted this to end. It was over. The Sound Trio have been defeated. So why? Why were her teammates fighting each other like this!?

She released Tails as she stood up and walked towards, ignoring everyone's yell of telling her to stand back. "Stop it. Stop it right now. Please, I'm begging you! Stop fighting!" Memories of her time with them started to appeared in her head while tears began falling from her eyes. "We're all a team aren't we?!"

Naruto gave out a roar while Sasuke grinned darkly at him. The two then charged at each other once more, this time with the intent to finish each other off.

"SASUKE! NARUTO! STOP IT!" Sakura yelled out as she got up and ran to them, much to everyone's shock.

"Sakura!" Tails ran after her.

Just as Naruto and Sasuke were about to clash, a pillar made of fire erupted between them, knocking them both back and making Sakura stop running while Tails skidded before he hit Sakura's legs making him fall back.

He sat up and stared at the pillar of flames in awe. "W-Whoa…"

"What the-!?" Neji asked in shock.

"What is that?" Tenten asked with wide eyes. "Where did it come from?"

"Unbelievable…" A sigh was heard from within the flames. "We haven't seen each other for years and this is how I find you?" Her silhouette is seen. "What happened to make you become this?" She swiped her hand to the side, revealing herself to be Blaze, as the fire disappeared. "Naruto Uzumaki?"

That made everyone blink in surprise as they stared at the mysterious girl. She knows Naruto? But how? Who is she?

Tails narrowed his eyes in thought before they widened. He remembered Naruto telling him about his friend who disappeared a long time ago. And what with that girl just said...could she really be…?

Shikamaru also narrowed his eyes feeling a sense of deja vu.

Naruto growled at her before he roared and charged at her.

**Battle Music: Vela Nova [Sonic Rush OST]**

Blaze quickly jumped out of the way just as Naruto punched the ground, making a crater form. He looked up to where she was and pulled his fist back, stretching it in the process as it glowed purple. He sent it soaring to the girl as the fist got bigger. Fire erupted under Blaze's feet as she dashed to the side and charged at Naruto, shocking everyone at the technique.

"Did she just…!" Ino spoke up as she watched wide eyed as the girl continued to dash. She never seen anyway use Fire Jutsu underneath their feet, that's just unheard of.

Shikamaru was staring at the girl as though she was puzzle. That last attack that stopped Naruto and Sasuke from getting at each other's throats; was that some sort of Jutsu? No, the girl never called out the Jutsu's name. In fact, from the looks of it, she wasn't even using her chakra to use it! Just who was she and how did she know Naruto? Why does it feel like he seen her somewhere?

Neji looked at the mysterious girl with his Byakugan activated and his eyes widen from what he saw. "She...she's not using chakra to move like that!" He exclaimed, shocking and confusing everyone, except for Shikamaru, who was right on the money.

"What do you mean she's not using chakra Neji?" Tenten asked in complete confusion.

"Exactly what I meant. She's not using chakra to use Fire Jutsu like that." Neji explained. "When I looked at her system, I didn't see no chakra at all. There was...fire. Nothing but fire." He narrowed his eyes at the unknown girl as she continued to dodge each and every attack Naruto threw at her. Just who on earth is she?

**"GRAAAAAAHHHHHH!"** Naruto roared once more, but this time in annoyance as the girl continued to dodge his attack.

Blaze grabbed Naruto's hands and elbowed him in the stomach, making him lean forward. She released his hands as fire erupted from her fist and she gave him an uppercut to the chin, making him soar upwards. She then ran ahead, leaving behind a trail of fire, as she ran up a large tree and went faster and faster. She soon enveloped herself in a large fireball.

In fact, she went so fast that she sent herself to where Naruto was, who had his eyes closed.

The former red streaked blond's eyes snapped open as he sensed her coming his way. He looked ahead and saw her flying to him. He growled as he did a flip and stretched his hand out to grab her, only for her to flip out of the way.

**"RAWR!"** Naruto roared as he dashed to her. The moment he got close, he went in for the attack. He then sent a barrage of punches and slashes, but to much to his anger, Blaze seems to block the punches and dodged the slashes.

Fire erupted from her fists as she sent out a bunch of punches to Naruto's face just fire erupted from her feet as she did a flip kick to Naruto's head, making him fly down to the ground.

As Naruto was sent downwards, he stretched his arm to grab a tree and pulled himself towards it. His feet landed on it before he jumped off and landed on the grass, on all fours. He looked up to see the girl floating in the air, thanks to the fire underneath her, till she landed on the green grass.

Meanwhile, all the Genins looked on in shock from the battle they just witnessed. This girl was no doubt strong as she was able to keep up with Naruto like that. And the way she used that fire of hers to envelop herself into a large fireball and used it to hover herself in the air. It was simply amazing.

"Awesome..." Tails whispered.

"I'll say...she's so strong..." Sakura said in awe.

"Shikamaru...Ino...I _really_ wanna go home now." Choji repeated what he said earlier as he was shaking like a leaf. This was definitely not what he was expecting since he and his Team participated in the Exams.

"You're not the only one Choji..." Ino admitted. She was still scared from the whole encounter with Naruto.

Shikamaru didn't say anything as he stared at the two, more than likely the girl, with wide eyes as he saw the moves she showed. _"First Sasuke, then Naruto, and now a mysterious girl who's giving me deja vu vibes. Man...this day is really turning into a drag..." _He thought to himself.

Why couldn't he just go home and watch the clouds?

Sasuke stood there as he watched the fight between the teammate and that girl. Both of them were strong. Really strong! Especially that girl! He had no idea how she managed to do all of that without chakra and frankly, he didn't care! As soon as their fight is done, he'll get his turn!

**"RRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!"** The energy from before came back and enveloped Naruto as he roared to the skies.

"Don't worry. I'll help you come back to your senses." A red aura appeared around Blaze.

The two then charged at each other as their foreheads touched each other, their auras still enveloping one another. When they charged at and clashed at each other, a large gust of wind appeared, strong enough to blow everyone and everything away.

However, thanks to the Genin already knowing how to use chakra, used it to stick to the ground while quickly covering their eyes due to the dirt and dust flying.

As the wind died, they looked ahead and watched as the two still clashed each other while running in place. Blaze looked into Naruto's eyes and saw they were flashing from green to blue, and he was gritting his teeth in pain. He was getting weaker now! This was her chance!

Everyone watched as the black/dark purple energy was slowly getting weaker and weaker, signaling that Blaze was going to win.

"This is intense!" Tenten exclaimed as the two try to push the other back, though it was completely obvious that Naruto is getting pushed back.

Then the best part happened.

As the mysterious energy disappeared, Naruto got sent backwards as Blaze turned herself into a projectile and punched him in the stomach hard.

**SLAM!**

**Music Ends**

Naruto got slammed into a large tree as a large crater got formed around him. Blaze jumped away and watched as he slid down from the tree and fell to the ground, on his hands and knees. He grit his teeth and growled as he began to tremble.

Everyone watched as purple smoke gathered around Naruto. In a brief flash of light, Naruto returned to normal, his Inhibitor Rings back where they belong, though his hair still got long. He fell to the ground, face first, and went unconscious.

"Naruto!" Tails cried out as he flew over to his best friend, rolling him on his back. "Naruto! Are you okay? Naruto!"

Blaze looked worried as well and was about to run over to them but stopped as she felt presence appear behind her and blocked an incoming punch from Sasuke.

"You're mine!" Sasuke yelled at her as she narrowed her eyes.

"Get out of my way." Blaze said coldly as she pushed him away before kicking him back.

Sasuke growled at her as the purple chakra started to circle around him while Blaze's hands were on fire. Literally. He slowly started to walk to her.

"Sasuke! STOP!" Sakura called out as she ran to him. She then pulled him into a hug from behind him, causing him to turn to her. "Sasuke, please stop it!" She had tears falling from her eyes. "You don't have to fight anymore! It's over!"

Sasuke was silent as he looked at the girl over his shoulder. Slowly the black markings started to glow red before they started to disappear.

Dosu, who was watching the whole thing and had blood running down his head, eyes had widened in fear at Sasuke and at the blond kid. Sasuke with the Curse Mark was scary enough but what that blond kid did was something entirely different. What the hell did Orochimaru _do_ to that kid?

Doesn't matter anyway. They had somehow survived the battle. _"The marks have retreated and the blond one is out...we're safe...for now."_

Sasuke fell on his rear end as he continued to cough and pant, with Sakura on her knees and looking at him in concern.

Blaze's flames disappeared as she sighed to herself before looking at Naruto worriedly. "Naruto…"

"You and your teammate are strong, Sasuke." Dosu said, getting everyone's attention. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a scroll. "_Too_ strong...we cannot hope to defeat you as you are now." He sat the scroll down. "I'll strike you a deal; we'll give you the scroll if you let us go."

Sakura, Tails, and Sasuke gasped from the deal, before they looked down at the scroll. Dosu walked over to where Zaku was and put him over his shoulder. He looked over to where Kin was at and picked her up under his arm.

"It would seem we underestimated you and the other one. But at least we found out what we needed to know. For the moment we're even. But if it should ever happen that we meet again in battle, I promise you; we won't run and we won't hide." With those words said, he turned and walked away.

"Hey wait!" Sakura called out, causing Dosu to turn to her "Who is this Orochimaru!? What has he done to Sasuke!? And why Sasuke!?"

"I don't know." Dosu admitted. "All I know is that we were told to target Sasuke and we did." He then walked off.

"Ino, you look after that guy while we check Naruto!" Shikamaru ordered as Ino ran to where Lee was while he and Choji ran to Naruto.

Blaze watched as Dosu disappeared, before she turned and walked over to where Naruto was at. Tails, Shikamaru, and Choji looked at her curiously. She ignored them and got on her knees in front of Naruto. She moved some hair out of his face, noting that he definitely got handsome. She had a small smile on her face as she heard him snoring.

"He's sleeping." Shikamaru deadpanned, along with Choji. All that trouble he put them through and here he is taking a nap? What a drag.

Tails had a sheepish look on his face as he laughed. "That's Naruto for ya."

Blaze shook her head in slight exasperation though she still kept her amused smile. "I swear...you're such a dummy." She grabs him by his shoulder, putting it around her neck and picks him up, before hearing something fall. She and the others looked down and saw a purple star fall from Naruto's pocket and the Earth Scroll.

"Hey. Isn't that Naruto's?" Choji asked. He remembered seeing Naruto looking at it back at the Academy with a blank, dead look on his face. He shivered as he recalled Naruto would always get _extremely_ violent whenever someone touched it, be it someone his own age or older and they would always get sent to the hospital.

Blaze reached down and picked up the star. "The charm I gave him." She said softly as she stared at it.

"I knew it!" Tails exclaimed, after he picked up the Scroll, getting everyone's attention. He pointed at her. "You're the girl Naruto told me about! The one who disappeared a long time ago! You're Blaze, right?"

Sasuke and Sakura turned their heads with surprised expressions. That girl was Blaze? The same Blaze Naruto said was taken a long time ago when he was younger? Now that they got a good look at her, she did look familiar but then they recalled that mysterious little girl from a while ago.

Shikamaru, Ino and Choji looked surprised and confused for a moment before their eyes widen as a memory appeared in their heads. Even though it's faint, they remembered whenever Naruto pulled a prank, there was a girl who was always with him. Sometimes to join in and other times to bring him to whoever he pranked and made him apologize to them.

There were also times when Naruto would run away in fear while the girl chased him. But for some reason, they haven't seen her around lately.

Blaze herself had a surprised expression on her face as well and not just because of Tails' appearance, even though she was little shocked after seeing him. Naruto has been talking about her while she was gone? She looked at Tails and nodded her head.

"Yes. I am Blaze." She then looks at Naruto. "And fortunately this moron is my best friend."

"W-What happened to you then?" Sakura asked, getting everyone's attention. "Naruto thought someone took you away and he's been looking for you ever since!"

That took everyone, except Sasuke and Tails, by surprise to hear this. Someone took her and Naruto has been looking for her?

"Well…" Shikamaru said, a deadpanned expression on his face. "That kinda explains where Naruto's sudden mood change from back then came from."

So that was it. Naruto has been looking for this Blaze girl for a long time and that star charm was more than likely a gift from her, which was why Naruto was so protective of it and didn't want anybody to touch it, let alone take it away. And if they did, they would more than likely be in a coma after what Naruto did to them.

Blaze had a calm expression though inwardly flinched at that. "I'm sorry. I cannot tell you." Sakura was gonna say something but Blaze put a stop to it. "Where is the Third Hokage? When I arrived he wasn't in his Office."

"Oh...well um...he's probably in the Tower." Choji replied.

"Tower?" Blaze asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah. We were suppose to go there after we got our Scrolls. It's in the center of the Forest, I think." Choji said.

"Thank you." Blaze nodded. She turns to walk away.

"Hold it."

Blaze sighs in annoyance, trying to reign in her temper. She turns her head and saw Neji walking to her.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" He asked. "I don't see a headband on your person so you're obviously not a ninja from any village, meaning you're a civilian."

"Yes. I am." Blaze stated.

"And you should know that civilians are forbidden to partake in _any_ shinobi activities, let alone coming in here by themselves. However, from what we saw you are different from any normal civilian. So my question is this...who exactly are you?"

"...I'm someone who's just happy to be with her friend again." Blaze said. "I'm going to take Naruto to the Hokage. What happened to him just now was not normal and he needs to know about it." She turns to Tails. "I can tell that you're obviously one of Naruto's friends..." She turns to look at Sasuke and Sakura. "And that you two are more than likely his teammates, so we'll be waiting for you at the Tower."

A pillar of fire came out, making everyone cover their face from the brightness of the flames. They uncovered as the flames vanished along with Naruto and Blaze.

"Whoa…" Sakura said in slight awe. That had gotta be the coolest thing she's ever seen.

"Naruto…" Tails said worriedly. He looks back to his best friend's Forehead Protector and his destroyed shoes, along with his Light Speed Shoes attachments. He ran towards them and picks them up before examining them. He looks back at the direction Blaze left.

With Naruto out of the picture, Squad 7 were down a man, and Sasuke and Sakura need him back just in case they ran into more trouble. He then remembered the words Naruto told him. Even though he wasn't a ninja officially, he was still a member of Squad 7 regardless.

Tails looks down at the Forehead Protector and nods to himself, a determined look on his face. He dropped all of Naruto's stuff and put his headband. Since Naruto will be out till they make it to the tower, he will act in his place. Besides this will be a chance for him to get closer with Sasuke and Sakura.

"See you later." Tails spoke softly as he turns around and ran to the others.

* * *

Blaze is now running across the Forest, with Naruto on her back.

"Blaze…" She heard Naruto as her eyes moved to his face, which was on her shoulder. "I'm sorry...I couldn't keep my promise…I'm sorry...I'm sorry…"

The pained expression on his face and his words hurt Blaze deeply. She couldn't imagine what Naruto went through after she was forced to return home.

"It's okay Naruto. I'm here now." Blaze said softly. She smiled as she saw his pained expression leave and turn into a smile. She looks forward and saw the Tower up ahead. Fire appeared around her and the two vanished.

* * *

The Hokage and Jōnin were in the monitor room, each of them having worried due to that massive Killing Intent from earlier. The Third was really tempted to send out the Jōnin to go and search but the Killing Intent disappeared moments ago.

The Hokage was about to talk but much to his and everyone's shock, a small fire tornado appeared in front of the entrance. The Jōnin took fighting stances when they saw a figure appear in the tornado and it seems to be carrying a person.

The fire instantly disappeared and in it's place stood a girl and the person...no the boy on her back was none other then-

"Naruto!" Kakashi exclaimed at seeing one of his students in this state.

His shirt was gone and his pants had cuts on them. He had bruises and dirt all over his body. His hair also got crazy long, going past his waist. Even his shoes were gone, along with his headband.

Kakashi quickly ran to her and grabbed Naruto off of her. Much to his relief, his student was unconscious but he was okay. He then looked at the girl. He didn't recognize her. Who was she? How did she get in the Forest of Death and make it here?

Hiruzen stood still as he stared at the girl in front of him with a shocked expression. Her hair, those eyes and that face. "You...it can't be…" He hasn't seen that face in a long, long time.

"Blaze...is that you?" The Third Hokage asked, much to the Jonin surprise none more so than Kakashi, who's eye widened.

Blaze nodded and smiled. "It has been a long time Lord Hiruzen."

"I see…" Kakashi turned to her. "So you're the famous Blaze Naruto told us about."

"And you must be Naruto's teacher yes?" Blaze asked.

"Yes." Kakashi nodded. He then bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you for bringing him here."

Blaze nodded and turns to the Kage as he smiled softly at her.

"It's good to see you again Blaze. You've grown to be a beautiful young woman." The Fire Princess looked away with a blush on her face.

"Thank you."

"Lord Third, you know this girl?" Kurenai asked curiously.

Hiruzen nodded. "I do Kurenai. This is the girl who befriended Naruto many years ago when they were both children." Surprise filled the Jonin and Chūnin in the room, but before they could say anything, a serious expression appeared on Hiruzen's face. "However, according to what Naruto told me, she had disappeared before his very eyes and the poor lad thought that someone took her away. So tell me young lady, where have you been this whole time? Don't you have any idea how much Naruto has been worried about you? We've been searching for you since you vanished, and when we couldn't find you, Naruto himself looked endlessly for you. He even tried to leave the village multiple times just to go look for you before we found out about it and brought him back."

Blaze had a shocked expression on his face. That moron did what?! He..._left_ the Village to go and search for her? What is wrong with him!?

However, deep down inside, she somehow knew he would do something like that. And honestly, it touched her deeply to know how much he cares about her and how much he was willing to leave his village to look for her.

After all, Naruto was the first friend she ever had and vice versa. The two had formed a powerful bond since the day they met.

She looks at Naruto sadly before she turns back to Hiruzen, a serious expression on her face.

"Before I tell you what happened to me, allow me to introduce myself again." She told him, much to everyone's confusion. "My name is Blaze, Princess of the **Sol Kingdom**." Everyone looked shocked from that. "I've come here as a representative from the Kingdom by my father, **King Prometheus**, in order for us to become allies."

Hiruzen continued to stare at her with a dumbfounded expression, which was matched by some of the other Jōnin and Chūnin as well. They couldn't believe that the girl in front of them is a _Princess_ of all things! Well, it does explain the elegant air she has around her.

"Well…" Kakashi spoke up, scratching his head sheepishly as an equal expression appeared in his eye. "Wasn't expecting that." Wow. Who would've thought Naruto became friends with a princess?

* * *

Naruto was groaning in his sleep. He shook his head and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the ceiling and his back was on something soft. He blinked a couple of times before he looked around, seeing that he was in a room.

"Where...am I?" He asked before he gripped his head in pain.

"You are in the Central Tower." A familiar elderly voice answered.

Naruto blinked before he looked at the entrance and saw the Third Hokage. "Old Man? What happened? Wait, we're in the Central Tower!? How long was I asleep?" He flinched in pain as he gripped his head again. "And what's up with this crazy headache? "

"You were alseep for three days." Hiruzen told him, much to Naruto's comical shock.

"T-THREE DAYS!?" He yelled out. "I was asleep for three days!? What the hell happened?!"

Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. It looks like Naruto is back to normal. He turns serious. "What's the last thing do you remember?"

Naruto stopped his rant and placed a hand under his chin. "All I remember is..." His eyes widen in shock as a familiar snake woman appeared in his head. "That damn Snake Genin!" Hiruzen's eyes widened before they narrowed in anger, not that Naruto noticed. "She separated us and I ended up fighting one of her snakes. I found her and fought her but she did something to me and…wait." His eyes widened in panic. "Tails! Sakura! Sasuke! Where are they? Are they okay?!"

"Calm down Naruto. Your team are currently on their way to the Tower now." Hiruzen answered, confusing Naruto. If they were on their way here now, then how did he get here?

"Do you remember anything else?"

Naruto's expression turned somber as he looked down. Memories of his dream...no, his nightmare coming back. He nodded his head. "Yeah. I...had this dream."

"Dream?" Hiruzen asked.

"It was about me and Blaze when we were young." The Kage remained silently as he continued to listen. "We were at the Hill where we usually hung out, but then the location changed to a grassy field. I heard Blaze call out to me. I found her and...she…" He began to tremble. "She told me...that I promised to protect her and that I didn't…that I _abandoned_ her which wasn't even true!" He hung his head lower. "I...I told her how sorry I was...but then...her eyes…" He grits his teeth, not wanting to remember those eyes before he decided to skip that part and continue his story. "Suddenly, this purple mist suddenly appeared and swallowed her."

Since Naruto wasn't looking, Hiruzen's eyes moved to the door behind him. Blaze and Kakashi were hiding behind the door, listening in on his conversation. Kakashi watched Blaze tremble as if she wanted to go in right now, while his lone eye narrowed at the mention of the Snake 'Genin' who can summon giant snakes.

"The mist surrounded me before I saw these glowing eyes appear in them." Naruto said before he shook. "The mist...it...it just suddenly turned into a giant monster...and it just got bigger and bigger." He wrapped his arms around himself as he continued to shake, his breathing become hectic. "The feeling it gave off...the presence around it...I...I never felt something like it in all my life! It...it was pure darkness! It was swallowing me up! I couldn't breath and…and-!" He felt Hiruzen touch his shoulder, making him look up, seeing the grandfather like concern on his face.

"Calm down Naruto. Take deep breaths and continue."

Naruto nodded before he took a deep breath. The shaking stopped and he looks up at Hiruzen. "After the monster got bigger, it charged at me and entered my body and I was screaming…" He sighed. "And that's it."

Hiruzen looked down with narrowed eyes. A monster? So it _was_ something else. He knew that it couldn't have been the Nine-Tails. As he remember from back then the presence it had was filled with anger and hatred, whereas this one, from what Blaze saw and told him, was something completely different.

This feeling was...dark. _Pure_ darkness unlike anything he's ever felt in years, just as Naruto said.

Whatever it was that Naruto saw in his dream might've been the cause of what transpired days ago. But..._what_ exactly was it? The power from before was definitely not chakra but it still left an impression on everyone and everything that felt it.

Not only that...but this Snake "Genin" Naruto was talking about. And apparently "she" has the ability to summon snakes. Why? Why was _he_ here now? What could he possibly be plotting now?

**Snap! Snap!**

"Oi, Old Man!" Naruto called out as he snapped his fingers in front of his face, making him blink in confusion. The Ultimate Ninja sent him an annoyed glare. "Did you not hear what I said?"

"I'm sorry. What was it that you said?" Hiruzen asked.

"I said…" A worried expression appeared on his face. "Did I...do anything...bad?"

Hiruzen looked at Naruto before he sighed. Might as well tell him now. "Yes. You did." Naruto's expression turned to shock. "Something happened out there and because of it, not only did you attack your enemies, but also your fellow Leaf Genin."

Naruto now had a horrified expression. He...he _attacked_ his own friends?! What the hell happened out there!? Was everyone okay?!

"However…" Naruto's attention moved to the Old Man as he smiled. "Thankfully, _she_ was there to stop you before you could do some serious harm."

Naruto blinks and tilt his head. "She?"

Hiruzen smiled warmly and happily at him, much to Naruto's complete confusion. He nodded his head. "She brought you here after she knocked you out. Would you like to meet her?"

"Sure." Naruto stood up, smiling. "After all I gotta thank her. Whoever she is."

"...You're welcome. " A soft feminine voice was heard behind the door, making Naruto look at it with surprise.

**Music: My Destiny~Instrumental [Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)]**

To Naruto, everything was moving in slow motion as the door opened up and a foot walked in before he saw the legs and hands.

Soon he saw her face.

The moment he saw her face, Naruto's eyes slowly went wide as memories began to flash in his head. From the day they met to the day she disappeared. With his brief flashback finished, he saw her younger self standing at the door, smiling happily at him, before she changed into her older self.

It...it was her…? Was it really?

Blaze stared at Naruto with a soft smile and blush on her face as tears began to gather in her eyes.

"Naruto…" She said as tears fell. "I...I missed you so much, Naruto!"

"B...Blaze…?" Naruto asked in a whisper as his lips trembled. He slowly walks up to her as tears gathered in his eyes. "Blaze...it's...it's you…? You're really here…?"

"Y...Yes!" Blaze choked out in a sob. She runs to him and hugs him with all her might. "I'm here! I'm back!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Blaze!" He couldn't contain it no more and let his tears out as he hugged her back, holding her tightly as though she might disappear again. "I...I looked for you!" He fell on his knees, taking her with him. "After you vanished, I looked everywhere I could for you! I was so scared! I was scared that you might've been hurt or worse and..that...I wasn't there to save you!" He choked. "I was scared...that I might never see you again! But then...I remembered the promise you made...and I...I…I missed you!"

Blaze nodded and hugged him tighter, sobbing softly into his chest, enjoying the warmth that she hasn't felt in years. As a princess, she knows that she shouldn't be acting like this and vice versa for Naruto since he's a ninja.

But right now, neither of them didn't care about any of that stuff. To them, all that mattered was that they were together again.

Hiruzen smiled warmly at them. He looks back at Kakashi and saw him eye-smiling as well. They both left with Hiruzen closing the door, wanting to give the two some privacy and some catching up to do.

* * *

**Ending 2: Harmonia [English Version]**

**Hey, can you hear me?**

A drawing of Tails, in his fox form, is seen, with his back turned to the audience. He turns back and smiles happily at the viewers.

**The sky is limitless and blue  
The sea is endlessly large  
To you, please remain smiling or else I'll cry**

Tails is flying in the Tornado. He waves to a bunch of birds as they waved back. He flew down just above the sea as the dolphins jumped out. Everything vanished and Tails is by himself.

Naruto, Knuckles, Amy, Sasuke and Sakura appears for a moment before they vanished, making Tails cry out before he sneezed and he transformed into his human form.

**You don't have to look around now, because everyone are in these hands**

Pictures starts to rain down and Tails watches each one that pass. All the pictures had everyone on them: Rock Lee, Iruka, Hinata, Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai, Shikamaru, Naruto, Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi.

**Wanting to cry, wanting to run  
If you forget happiness then sing  
Light was born and dark was born, the two is together  
Feeling harmonia, telepathy**

Tails, still in his human form, is walking around the woods, looking for everyone as the sun shine on him. A bunch of animals soon followed and he began to happily lead them as though they were a marching band.

One by one the animals began to leave Tails by himself. He looks in front of him and saw Naruto's back towards him.

A big smile appeared on his face as he ran to his best friend and jumped on his back, causing him to turn around in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. He turns around facing the viewers and looks at them.

**Hey, can you hear me?**

Naruto and Tails then gave the viewers two thumbs up.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Don't you just love happy reunions between childhood friends? Just letting you guys know that after or maybe sometime after the SegaSonic the Hedgehog chapter during the Chunin Exam Arc, I might make the Childhood Arc, which is about Blaze and Naruto's childhood together and what happened after Blaze vanished in greater detail.

Also, Naruto's _mysterious_ transform (*Wink wink*) is only the first stage of it. Think of it as the Version 1 form of a Jinchuriki, so expect to see more versions.

And don't worry about Naruto's shoes. He will get a new pair sooner than you think. ;-)


	16. Ultimate 15 Prelims (Part 1)

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 2: Far Away [English Version]**

***Instruments***

Squad 7 is seen staring at the sunset with Blaze, Tails, Amy and Knuckles there with them.

Naruto turns around and grins as he tossed a Chaos Emerald at the viewers before the title appears on it:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Let's hit the gas, it's time to go  
There is no need to hesitate no more**

**We are going on our way**

Naruto is on top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head as he looks up at the sky. Sonic, Shadow and Silver briefly appeared behind him, looking up as well, before they vanished.

Naruto had a surprised expression for a moment as he felt Tails jump on his shoulder. He looks back and saw Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke and Sakura behind him, looking at the two with smiles on their faces.

Naruto grins back at them.

**I might regret it it the end  
But I don't care how long we have to wait**

**We will live it day by day**

Images appear: One is Naruto is doing a pose from the Sonic Adventure 2 cover. The second is Tails waving happily to the readers. The third is Sasuke in an attack pose. The fourth is Sasuke and Sakura standing back-to-back. The last is Kakashi looking at the readers while reading his book.

The scene changes to show them standing in front of a camera. The camera flashes as Naruto and Tails appears in front of it, making goofy faces, much to Sasuke and Sakura's irritation while Kakashi looked at them.

The camera flashes again, this time showing Sakura punching Naruto upside the head, while Sasuke grabbed Tails by his twins and looked at him in annoyance, making Tails smile sheepishly.

The final shot is Squad 7 together, smiling.

**Open up your heart now**

**Pull your loved ones closer**

**Everything will be alright!**

Team Guy makes an appearance together, along with Squad 10 and Squad 8.

An artwork of Kabuto appears, smiling back at the viewers.

The Proctors of the Chunin Exams, Kurenai, Guy, Asuma and the Third Hokage appears.

Conquering Storm appears with her back turned and looking over her shoulder, a cold half-lidded expression on her face.

**I can promise you that…**

**Your feelings will get far~!**

**FAR~!**

Team Sand appears, before Kankuro and Temari disappear leaving Gaara by himself.

Naruto and Sasuke appear behind Gaara, in the background, as he motions his hands up, making sand cover the screen.

Naruto and Sasuke appear in a pitch black space. The camera moves to Sasuke as eyes, similar to a snake, appears above him.

***Instruments***

Naruto is lying down on the grass, staring up at the night sky. He sits up and his eyes widen as he saw Blaze, her back turned to him. Just as a black and purple mist, that has purple electricity, suddenly appears, she turns around and smiles at him. Just as Naruto reached out to her, and she vanished within the mist.

He calls out to her before he got consumed by the mist. Naruto screams as the mist enters his body before he snapped his eyes open, revealing that they are now slitted green.

**So hurry up now!**

**And let it all out!****  
**

Conquering Storm, Neji and Lee are seen in fighting stances. Gaara has his arms crossed.

Naruto and the Masked Boy are seen glaring down at each other.

**Though my legs might hurt**

**I know I'll make it far**

**'Cause I will fight 'till the end!  
**

Knuckles is on Angel Island looking at the sky as the wind blows past his face. Tails is looking up fearfully at a large cage

Sasuke attacks Zaku at the Preliminary Round.

Blaze attacks a Shinobi as she sent him flying and burning in pain.

Naruto appears, in Nine-Tails mode, as he gives a yell at the viewers.

**I'm getting closer!**

**I know I'll get there!**

Amy, Sakura and Ino are seen standing back-to-back with Cherry Blossoms falling in the background.

The left side of Orochimaru's face appears as Sasuke's silhouette is on the right and he's gaining purple marks on his neck.

Dr. Eggman Nega briefly appeared, grinning evilly as a screen appeared in the reflection of his glasses.

The right side of the Nazo's face appears as Naruto's feral face appears on the other side, though his sclera is green and his skin begins to turn pale blue.

**No matter what the cost**

**If you are there I know**

**That I'll arrive!**

Back at the arena, Naruto falls back. He looks back up and glares at Nazo as he brung a "Bring it" motion with his hand.

**I'm going far away...**

Naruto's whole body suddenly gained a neon-blue aura coating his body. He gave out a yell and a blue flash appeared.

***Instruments***

Blaze is on top of the entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village. She stares out at the village, holding her Lucky Charm, before she jumps down and runs off to where Naruto is.

The camera backs away from Naruto's serious expression and shows Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, The Rookie Nine, Team Guy, Team Sand and Conquering Storm.

* * *

**Ultimate 15: Preliminary Rounds (Part 1)! The Rematch Between Naruto and the Masked Boy!**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto is looking up at the reader's a confident smirk on his face and his arms crossed. Behind him, stood the Masked Boy.

* * *

"So, wait a sec, you're in fact a princess of a continent, that's not even on the map or any near the Shinobi Nations, and the current guardian of these Sol Emeralds?" Naruto asked as he sat down crossed leg, a surprise expression on his face as he looked at Blaze, who was sitting on the bed he laid on.

After their tearful reunion, the two stayed in the room, for what seemed like hours, with Naruto constantly asking her about where she's been all these years. Blaze had to slap him upside the head just to shut him up so she can tell her story.

"Yes, that's right." The Fire Princess answered. "As per custom of my kingdom, it is the princess's duty to become guardians of the Sol Emeralds. It's been that way for many generations."

"So then...your flames…" Naruto said softly.

"Yes…" Blaze said, looking down as fire erupted from her hand. "My flames have been passed down from the previous princesses. And I believe it's due to our powerful connection with the Sol Emeralds." The fire disappeared.

Naruto looked surprised for a moment but became confused. "But I don't understand. If you're the current guardian of the Sol Emeralds then how did you get here from back then? And what about your mom? I mean she's the Queen, so shouldn't she still be the guardian?"

It just wasn't fair.

He couldn't believe such a custom exists in Blaze's kingdom, especially since the previous princesses have the same power as well, and because of their connections with the Sol Emeralds, they were basically forced to become the Emeralds guardians.

Plus, Blaze's mother is...or _was_ the guardian during her time as a princess so shouldn't that mean that she's still the guardian of the Sol Emeralds?

Naruto just had to know.

"..." Blaze looked down. "Back then, before we met, I was attacked by a monster." Naruto's eyes widened in horror. "One day, my mother and I were outside the kingdom having a picnic when it happened. I've always been cooped up in the castle, guarding the Sol Emeralds since the moment I could walk, so mother decided the two of us should go out and have a mother and daughter time. All of a sudden, this monster just came out of nowhere and attacked us."

Naruto listened intently as he narrowed his eyes._ "She's never left her castle?"_

So instead of living life like any normal child, despite being of royalty, and because of her kingdom's customs regarding the princesses, she was forced to grow up and become guardian of the Sol Emeralds since the moment she could walk? Adding to the fact that she's never _once_ left her castle?!

That did not sit well Naruto. Not. At. All.

"I tried to use my powers to kill it in order to protect her…but...but I was too scared." She looked down further, her hair covering her eyes. "In the end, mother was the one who protected me. She fought back her hardest but even then it wasn't enough. The monster...killed her in front of me."

Naruto gasped in horror from that, eyes widened. He...he couldn't believe Blaze experienced something so..._horrifying_. To watch your own mother being killed in front of you is the most terrifying and traumatizing experience for _any_ child.

"_And Blaze is one of them…"_ Naruto thought as he clenched his fists.

"I...I don't remember what happened after that. The only thing that I _could_ remember...was being surrounded by flames and the monster being dead at my feet." Blaze continued as tears gathered in her eyes, her fists clenched tightly. "I woke up the next day and that's when father told me...my mother died."

Naruto continued to listen, though this time his face was shadowed by his hair.

"Afterwards, many people, including the children, found out about what happened and they all looked at me differently. I could hear the grown-ups whispering about me and the children would often run away from me. Sometimes I would often get teased by them too."

Naruto's finger twitched before he gripped his knee pants tightly from what he was hearing, gritting his teeth in anger. He...he just couldn't understand it! All the things that happened to Blaze, seeing her mother, their _queen_, being killed in front of her, which no doubt traumatized her and _this_ was how her people would treat their own princess? Like a freaking outcast because of her powers?!

That just made Naruto think that the other guardians, Blaze's mother included, probably must've been treated the same way.

That alone just made the holder of the Nine-Tails' anger increase further.

"My mother's death, along with my role of being a guardian without her guidance and dealing with the people became too much for me." Blaze still continued as she starts to tremble. "I...I wanted to leave. To find a place to meet someone out there like me." She stops trembling, a small smile forming on her face. "That's when the Sol Emeralds heard my wish and…" She looks up to stare at Naruto, a happy smile gracing her beautiful face. "They brought me to the Hidden Leaf Village. They brought me...to you."

Naruto's eyes widen as a blush formed on his face. He never noticed it since he was a kid…but seeing Blaze's smile...it made his heart skip a beat. When he was young he always thought that she had a cute smile, and absolutely _loved_ to see it. But now, seeing her smile once again, just makes Blaze look...beautiful.

"_EH?!"_ Naruto shook his head comically, making Blaze look at him in confusion. _"WHAT AM I THINKING?! Think about something else! Think about something else!" _He recalled about Blaze saying the Sol Emeralds brought her to the Leaf Village.

Though he had to be honest, those Sol Emeralds kinda sound like the Chaos Emeralds.

There are seven of them and they share the concept of 'transforming thoughts into power' and a lot of people have been wanting the Sol Emeralds for those reasons, however no one in the Shinobi World, except for Egghead, has heard of the Chaos Emerald and don't know they exist. Well except for the Hokage and some Hidden Leaf Shinobi.

Plus they listened to Blaze's feelings and brought they brought the two of them together. Almost as if they were...

An atomic blush erupted from Naruto as smoke rose from his head. "WAAAAHHH!" He suddenly turned into a spin ball and bounced all around the room before he fell down.

Blaze slowly blinked at that strange behavior. She raised an eyebrow, staring at Naruto like he was an idiot, which is the truth after knowing him for so long. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" Naruto exclaimed, shaking his head. He needed to change the subject. Now! "So...um what happened after that? I mean after you returned to home."

Blaze stared at Naruto, making him break out in cold sweat, before she sighed. "The moment I came back, I wished for the Sol Emeralds to take me back, but they wouldn't let me. It was then I realized that the Sol Emeralds needed me, which is why they called me back."

"The...Sol Emeralds brought you back!?" Naruto asked in surprise.

Blaze nodded and looked down. "Back then, I was sensing them trying to bring me back for a while and I've been fighting it. It would seem I reached my limit and was brought home."

"So that's what you meant back then…" Naruto muttered to himself. All this time he thought somebody kidnapped her but instead it was those Sol Emeralds that brought her back home. Now he just felt silly about the whole thing.

"After that, father and the servants were asking me lots of questions, wondering where I was at the whole time. So...I explained everything to them." Blaze continued to tell her story. "Of course, they were shocked to learned that I was in a Shinobi Village and they became worried, especially father, but thankfully they were listening to me. As the years passed by, my father was growing older and older before he decided to send me here to the Leaf as a representative so we can be allies."

"I see…" Naruto smiled softly. "And here you are, right in front of me."

Blaze returned the smile as well. "Yes."

The two sat in silence as they stared at one another, both of them getting lost as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Hold on a sec…" Naruto blinked. "What about the Sol Emeralds?"

Blaze smiled. "My father decided to...bend the rules and is currently acting as a pseudo-guardian."

"Awesome!" Naruto smirked. Sounds like he and Blaze's old man are gonna get along _just_ fine.

They heard knocking from the door, snapping them out of it as they turned towards it, seeing it was Kakashi.

"Yo."

"Kakashi?" Naruto asked in surprised. He honestly didn't expect his sensei being here. But then again he saw the Old Man earlier. "You've been here the whole time?"

"Yup. Me, along with the other Jōnin, are here waiting for you guys. But apparently you're here before them." Kakashi said as Naruto smiled sheepishly. He looks back and forth between him and Blaze. "I see that you two lovebirds are finally catching up on old times, hm?"

"Huh?!" Naruto and Blaze's faces were glowing red.

"L-L-LOVEBIRDS!?" Naruto yelled out in embarassment. "C-C-C'mon dude! S-She's just a friend! A friend!"

"Oh?" Kakashi had a teasing look in his eye which matched the tone in his voice. "From the way you were talking about her, it sounded like you were in love."

The son of Yellow Flash and the Fire Princess's faces glow even more as Blaze turned to Naruto with wide eyes, making steam come out of his ears as his eyes turned into comical swirls.

"I-I-I didn't…! I wasn't...I mean no…! You...GAH!" Naruto screamed out as he stood up and glared at his sensei with a comical large vein on his head. "What the hell do you want Kakashi?!"

"Hm?" Kakashi blinked. "Oh yeah." He turns to Blaze. "Your Highness, Lord Third asks for you."

"O-Of course!" Blaze coughed and nodded as she stood up. "I shall see you later Naruto." Her face soon returned to normal. She turns to Kakashi seriously as she walks up to him. "Also, don't call me 'Highness' or 'Majesty'. Just Blaze will do." She soon left, leaving them alone.

Kakashi blinked, surprised at that. Looks like someone didn't want to be called that, which is a first, seeing how people of royalty would like to be treated as such. Guess some don't want to be treated like that and wants to be treated like normal people.

"Oh! And Naruto…" Kakashi turns to his student. "Seeing how you're the only one here, you'll have to wait for the others to come. And seeing that you're alone, tells me that Tails is with Sasuke and Sakura in your place, so I guess it's okay."

"Yeah. But don't worry." Naruto smirked confidently. "Tails is the smartest kid I know. He'll definitely help Sasuke and Sakura out if they're in a pickle. I know that all three will get here with both Scrolls and we'll pass these Exams! I believe in them!"

Kakashi had a surprise expression on his face before he eye smiled at Naruto. His young student is putting a lot of faith into his friends/teammates. These kids are finally growing up.

"Right. You better hurry up and get changed into something else. You don't want everyone to see you like that do you?"

Naruto blinked and looked down at his attire before he groaned in annoyance at how lost nearly everything, except for his pants, thankfully. "Ah man! Those were my favorite clothes and shoes! Now what am I gonna wear?"

"Well, after you were unconscious, Lord Third went to the store and got you something." Kakashi told him, making Naruto blink at him. He pointed at the bag of clothes in front of the bed. "It's right there."

Naruto turns to it and nodded his head in gratitude. "Sweet. Thank the pervy old man for me." He walks to the bag and opens it up as his eyes sparkled. "Oh! Nice!"

Kakashi sighed and shook his head before leaving Naruto to himself. Seriously, there are times when he treats the Hokage with respect and other times not. It's almost as if he inherited both his parents personality.

Naruto was getting ready to put his clothes on before he saw the mirror. He looks at himself and noticed how long his hair was. "Damn. Gotta get a haircut." He was gonna get to his clothes before he noticed something in the mirror.

"...Huh?" Purple electricity were dancing around his stomach before it vanished.

"What the hell…?" Naruto asked himself as he looked down and touched his stomach. He looks back up at the mirror, only to see the monster from his dream as it roared at him. "WHOA!" He jumps back in fright before he fell down. He looks back up at the mirror, only to see nothing. He put a hand to his beating heart trying to calm it down from the sudden jump scare moment.

"...what's going on?"

* * *

**Days Later**

"...Ok, I'm worried."

"Will you relax? They'll be here."

Right now, Naruto and Blaze were walking down the hallway to the main room. Its been two days since Naruto woke up from his coma. Blaze still wore the same outfit whereas Naruto's appearance has changed.

For one, his hair was cut short again. However, he came up with the idea to use the spines from Silver's forehead and the back of his head, though they were swept back to not make it...well _too_ much like Silver's.

And second, was the new outfit. He now wore black pants, that has cuts/tears on them, courtesy of Naruto since he wants to look cool and badass, a blue sleeveless shirt and a yellow scarf. He wore sports tape on his wrists and got a new pair of white gloves which were fingerless. For footwear, he wore the normal blue shinobi sandals...for now anyway, until he can find some decent shoes.

While it was boring being here alone, it really wasn't as long as Blaze was with him. Naruto would tell stories of what he did while Blaze was away, though he did get a stern talking too from her after hearing some stuff from the Old Man.

He told her his adventures from the Land of Waves to all the way to when the Chūnin Exams started. He even told her about both the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald much to her surprise as she never heard of them before. She herself also noted that they sounded similar to the Sol Emeralds. Her eyes soon narrowed when he mentioned the man looking for the Chaos Emeralds for evil deeds.

It looks like she's going to have to keep a lookout on this Dr. Eggman Nega character and hope he doesn't find out about the Sol Emeralds like he did with the Chaos and Master Emeralds.

Afterwards he wanted to go out and get some ramen, much to her annoyance that Naruto still eats that junk food. After hearing that Naruto went on and on about the stuff before Blaze had enough and set him on fire just to shut him up, like she did when they were younger.

The two soon decided to explore the Tower before the final day approached, which which is today by the way.

Now here they are going to check to see if everyone were here.

Naruto put his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. "I hope so. Cause right now, I'm ready to kick someone's butt! I haven't had action in days since coming here!"

Blaze stared at him with a half lidded expression before shaking her head. "Honestly, you need to chill out sometime."

Naruto chuckled. "Sorry, can't help it! Just excited is all!"

They reached the door to the main room. Naruto pushed it open and entered, drawing everyone's attention. Naruto and Blaze saw all the Genin Teams that passed, including Squad 7, much to his happiness, Squad 10, Squad 8, Team Guy, Team Kabuto, Team Dosu, Team Storm and the Sand Team. The Jōnin and Chūnin, along with the Hokage were there as well.

"I'm back~!" Naruto sang out loud.

"Naruto! You're okay!" Sakura exclaimed happily.

"NARUTO!" A voice cried out happily.

Naruto smiled happily as he saw Tails, in his fox form, flying at him with a bright happy smile on his face. He runs to him. "TAILS!" He grabs Tails' hands and spun him around before hugging him, which brought smiles on some of the Genin's face along with the Leaf Jōnin and Chūnin.

"All right! Naruto's back to normal!" Ino said happily, glad that she didn't have to see that monster form of his.

"Yeah. I definitely don't want to see that form again." Choji mumbled.

"Sheesh, it's always something with him." Shikamaru muttered.

"How sweet." Hinata said softly as a smile formed on her lips as she watched Naruto and Tails' interaction.

"Hmph." Sasuke had a small smile on his face.

"So the little guy is what Naruto had in that backpack all along huh?" Kiba asked Akamaru. "Looks like you were right bud."

"Bark!"

"I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried!" Tails exclaimed as he hugged Naruto tightly.

"Ha! You worry too much little buddy!" Naruto put Tails down and grins as he pointed him. "I'm back and ready for some action!" He winks at Tails, making him laugh.

"Right!"

"Hey!" Naruto noticed the Forehead Protector on Tails' head, which was two big for him. "My Forehead Protector! You look good in it little bud."

"Thanks." Tails took it off and handed it back to him. "But it's way too big for me."

"True. Later on we'll find one for your size." Naruto said, putting his Forehead Protector on. "While we're at it, let's find some crub-OW!" He stopped talking as Blaze grabbed his ear and was pulling it. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Blaze!"

"Will you knock it off?" Blaze asked as she released him, crossing her arms as she watched Naruto hold his ear. "You've had seven bowls of ramen before coming here so there's no need for you to be eating."

"Well actually I didn't get any chili dogs yet so…" Naruto paused as he saw the _look_ Blaze was giving him. "On second thought, I think I'm good for right now. Let's go Tails."

Tails giggled from the interaction before he jumped on Naruto's shoulder as the two joined the others, ignoring the looks some of the Genin gave him.

Hiruzen tilt his hat down, wanting to hide the amused smirk. _"Honestly, those two are like opposite versions of Minato and Kushina." _

What with Naruto being more like a male version of his mother with his father's appearance, Blaze was like a female version of Minato though she has a strong and scary fiery temper that reminded him of Kushina in her youth. It would seem that their spirits live on in those two.

Kakashi sweat dropped as he watched Naruto walk back in line, muttering something to himself. Unfortunately for him though, Blaze heard what he said and walked up to him, whispering something in his ear, making him stand straight with a terrified expression as he nodded at her. Blaze huffed and walked away, going up the platforms. He don't know what Blaze said to Naruto but apparently whatever it was actually worked.

"_She kinda reminds me of sensei, but for I'm getting __**strong**__ Kushina vibes from her." _

"First of all, congratulations on passing the second phase of the Exam." Anko spoke up, getting everyone's attention._ "Heh. There were 78 ninja who took that exam...frankly I'm surprised that 24 passed, not including little miss princess over there and the fox kid."_

"I'm really hungry." Choji mumbled, holding his stomach.

"What a drag, there's still so many." Shikamaru complained. "This is such a pain." He looks up. _"Can't believe this many are left...why do all the creepy strong ones have to make it?"_

Ino smiled happily at seeing Sasuke again as she turned to him. "Now that Naruto's back, Sasuke and his Team passed!"

"Of course they did..." Shikamaru said, remembering what happened days ago. "After what we been through they had better passed." He then shot both Sasuke and Naruto glances, especially to Naruto. He shivered as he remembered the transformation he had did and the way he went feral.

With the Jōnin sensei, Guy smirked as he looked at Squad 7. "I see your Team didn't do too bad, Kakashi! They must have gotten real lucky." He then shrugged in mock defeat. "Of course with my Team around yours is doomed to failure! After all what matters on the next stage will test personal ability. And we've got you far outclassed. Youth is sweet and sour, and sometimes cruel. Well, I guess a part of growing up is to learn to deal with heartbreak. Eh, Kakashi?"

"Huh?" Kakashi blinked before turning to Guy. "Did you say something?"

_"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"_ Guy yelled internally and dramatic fashion. He turns his head and clenches his fist feeling insulted. _"Alright Kakashi, you win this round! Boy that drives me nuts when you act SO cool! There's no way I'm gonna let you get the best of me!"_ A fire aura appeared around him.

Back with the Genin, Tenten looked over her sensei and his rival._ "So, that's Guy-sensei's old rival. When it comes to looks I'd say Guy-sensei would lose."_

Lee flexed a hand confidently as he watched his sensei and Kakashi interact. _"Guy-sensei is the coolest man on the planet! He's the best sensei in the world! He shines above the rest."_ He then brought his fists close and his eyes filled with fire. _"Right! Guy-sensei, I too shall shine!"_ He looked down and remembered what happened from when the Sound Team attacked Squad 7 and seeing the tears fall from Sakura's eyes. _"…I won't fail someone important to me again. I will make sure no tears will fall. No comrade will see me fall. So…I will never lose again, Guy-sensei!"_

"..." Neji glanced around the room.

_"I can't believe it…only 8 teams out of 26 are left."_ Temari thought as she glanced around the large open room.

Back with the Jōnin, Baki; a tall man with two, distinctive red markings on the right side of his face, the only part of his head that was visible, the rest being covered by a turban with a small sheet hanging on the left side of his face as well as the standard Sand Jounin uniform.

_"So…you're uninjured, just like I thought, Gaara."_

Kurenai looked around and saw her Team, but noticed Akamaru. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his bizarre quivering._ "Akamaru's acting strange…"_

Akamaru sat tucked into Kiba's jacket, lightly whimpering and shivering. Kiba reached up and rubbed his head softly before glancing back at the Sand team. "That Sand guy." He snarled in frustration.

Hinata looked up at her crush and blushed a little finally noticing his new look. It was good that he and his Team passed. She grew worried when she saw he wasn't there for a moment. But she did wonder who that mysterious girl was that was with Naruto. Speaking of, she turns to look at the girl. She didn't know why but this girl looks so familiar to her. Judging from her interaction with Naruto, the two acted as if they've been friends for a long time.

"_Like I said."_ Storm thought to herself. _"The strong wins and the weak perish."_

Naruto turns to look with Tails riding on his shoulder. He whistled in amazement. Wow! Looks like everybody passed and made it out of that forest alive. He flinched though when he saw Zaku's broken arms. He definitely doesn't want to know what happened to him to get like that.

"Sasuke, are you okay?"

"Hm?" Naruto turns back to see Sasuke grip his neck and hiss in pain. "Dude, what's with you?"

"Nothing…" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke, please we have to tell someone about this." Sakura pleaded.

"No!" Sasuke said firmly. "I told you, I'm an avenger. Becoming a Chūnin doesn't matter to me. But the question I want to answer, 'Am I strong enough?' by fighting those that are stronger than me. And they're all here."

Naruto raised a brow at Tails, who only scratch his head in confusion.

"Oi Sasuke. I don't think you should be worrying Sakura like that-"

"Naruto." Sasuke turns to him and smirks. "You're the one I want to fight the most."

Naruto blinks in surprise at that before he grins in excitement. "Oh yeah? Bring it then."

Blaze looked down at all of the gathered Genin. So..._this_ is what the Chūnin Exam is like. Well from what she heard this was the second phase while the first phase happened a day before she arrived in the village. Pretty interesting to say the least.

"Alright, now pay attention! Lord Hokage is gonna explain the Third Exam to you! You better listen carefully maggots!" Anko announced.

Everyone in the room stood at attention as the Third Hokage began to walk forward.

"First, before I explain the Third Exam and tales, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now, cause this is something all of you need to understand."

The Genin were paying close attention to the Hokage's words, some of them confused as to what he meant.

"I am going to tell you the true purpose of this exam." Hiruzen continued.

"True purpose?" Naruto whispered as he and Tails looked at each other in confusion.

"Why do you think our country hold these exams in conjunction with our allies?" Hiruzen asked, only to receive silence. "Because it's to raise the ability levels of the shinobi and increase friendship between Allied Nations. But the true purpose of this exam, well so to speak, they are the representation of the battles between Allied Nations."

Some of the Genin's eyes widened at the Hokage, along with Blaze, who stood silent and continue to listen.

"W...What do you mean?" Tenten asked.

"Now, if we look back to our history, all the countries that we are allied with, were once neighboring Nations that fought with each other for power. In order to avoid destroying each other, those Nations picked champions to do battle on behalf of their countries. That was how the Chūnin Selection Exams originally began."

"Okay, time out real sec." Naruto said, a brow raised. "If that's the case, then what's the point of these exams? Wasn't it just for us to pass some tests and become Chūnin?"

"Well actually," Hiruzen started. "There is no question that part of the point of these exams is to select shinobi worthy of being Chūnin. That's just not the whole story. These exams also allow a place where shinobi carry the pride of their Nation on their backs. You see watching the Third Exam will be leaders and influential individuals. These individuals are from many countries that make up the clients of the Shinobi Villages. The leaders of these countries will also be there to witness your battles. If the strength of a country is clear then that country will receive more clients."

Naruto blinks and turns to look at Blaze, who had a surprised expression on her face. She noticed Naruto staring at her, making her look at him and see his questionable expression but she just shrugged her shoulders at him as if to say she didn't know.

"But it does make sense…" Blaze muttered to herself. So if a country is strong they get clients which is good, but if they're weak then they won't be receiving clients, making it difficult for the shinobi of those countries to get missions.

"However if a country is perceived as weak then they will lose clients. This will also signal potential enemy countries that your country has power. As such this also sends a political message." The Third finished his explanation, before taking a breath followed by a hit from his pipe.

"_Called it."_ Blaze thought to herself, impressed with herself.

"So then why do we have to risk our lives?" Temari asked, not liking the thought of dying for someone's entertainment.

"The strength of a country is measured by the strength of the village. The strength of a village is measured by the strength of its shinobi. And a shinobi's _true_ strength can only be shown by a life risking battle. This exam is a place to showcase each village's strength as well as your own. It only has meaning because lives are at risk, and that is why those that came before you have fought in the Chūnin Exam." Hiruzen finished.

"Then why do you say things about this being for friendship?" Sakura asked.

"I said it before in the beginning, that I didn't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance. That is the shape of friendship in the Shinobi World." The Third said, before taking another hit from his pipe. "Before we begin the Third Test I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test; it is a life risking battle with your dreams and countries prestige on the line."

That just made some Genin tense while Tails had a nervous expression. Naruto honestly didn't care about that. Ever since he met Dr. Egghead, he's already been putting his life on the line.

"I don't care what it is. Just hurry up and tell us what this life risking battle entails." Gaara demanded.

Before the Old Kage could explain a sickly looking Jōnin stepped up, coughing in his hands all the way.

"Actually Lord Hokage as the referee would you please allow me, Hayate Gekkou, to explain."

"By all means." Hiruzen said, taking a step back.

"***cough*** Hello everyone I'm Hayate. Before we can begin the Third Test I need to inform you that we need to go through a Preliminary before we can move on to the main exam." Hayate explained.

"Preliminary?" Naruto asked. "Why do we have to have a Preliminary?"

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Why can't the people who passed just continue?"

"Hm, honestly because the first two exams may have been too easy this year, we just have too many people. According to the Chūnin Exam rules we must hold a Preliminary and reduce the number of people for the third test. As Lord Hokage indicated there will be many guest attending and the fights may take too long and we're limited on time." Hayate explained.

Naruto raised a brow as the guy continued to cough. Dude this guy is so sick he should be in bed right now getting rest. So why the hell is he out here?

"Anyway those who aren't feeling well or feel like quitting after these explanations please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminary immediately." Hayate continued.

Kabuto winced and then raised his hand.

"Yes?

Kabuto smiled weakly. "On that note, I'll need to withdraw. I got beat up pretty bad in the forest, there's no way I'd make it through a match, so I'll just save myself the embarrassment."

"Aw~" Tails moaned. "But I wanna see you fight again Kabuto. You were really awesome out there."

The past few days ago, with Naruto out of commission, Squad 7 ran into Kabuto and he's helped them out especially when that Grass Nin and his Team came and got the jumped on them.

"Sorry Tails." Kabuto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a small smile preseng. "That fight from before took a lot out of me." Tails pouted making the older genin rub his head. "Maybe next time okay?"

"Ok…"

"_Okay, I definitely missed something."_ Naruto thought.

"Okay, is there anyone else would who like to drop out?" Hayate asked.

"S-Same here." A hand was raised. It was someone from Storm's Team and the guy definitely looked older than them...plus he was missing an arm. "I can't go on like this."

"M-Me as well." Another one of Storm's Team raised his hand as well.

Hayate nodded in return. "Understood. In that case you may head up to the upper level and wait."

All three nodded their heads as they turned to walk away before the two Genin in Black walked up to Storm and bowed their heads in shame.

"Forgive us Lady Storm."

Storm's eyes softened for a brief moment as she eyed her team before they hardened and she turned away from them. "Tsk. Go now." She ordered coldly as the two bowed their heads lower before they walked up to the platform.

"Would anyone else like to withdraw?"

After seeing no responses Hayate nodded and continued to cough in his fist which gained some unpleasant looks from some of the Genins, even from the Hokage and most Jōnin.

"Sorry about that, now let's begin the Preliminary. This Preliminary consists of one on one fighting. You will basically be fighting as if your life is on the line in a real life confrontation." Hayate explained. "Since we now have 24 contenders, one person will receive a free pass to the next round with the winners of the other twelve matches."

"There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you is knocked out or admits your defeat. ***Cough*** If you don't want to die, admit your defeat quickly. But when I decide a winner has clearly been established ***cough*** I'll jump right in and stop things. And the object that controls your destiny is..."

"Open it." Anko said into her microphone headset. A panel in the wall moved up to reveal an electronic screen

"If you would all look up at the screen on the wall we will see who will be in the first match and asked to remain here on the stage while the rest will move up to the catwalk." Hayate said.

Everyone's heads looked up at the electronic screen as it began randomly running through stared on blankly.

**Sasuke Uchiha**

**vs. **

**Yoroi Akado**

It was those two names that were on the screen as everyone stared at it.

Sasuke smirked at seeing his name on the screen. "Hmph. They don't waste anytime." He growled as he held his neck where the mark was at, but he still had the smirk on his face.

_"No!"_ Sakura thought, seeing her crush grip his neck. _"Why did it have to be Sasuke?"_

Tails looked at him in concern while Naruto looked on as well. It wasn't just them as Gaara, Lee, Neji and Dosu stared at him as well.

"Would all competitors beside these two head to the upper level." Hayate coughed as everyone did so.

Naruto looked to where Kakashi was and saw he was heading towards Sasuke. He stopped just behind him and was whispering something in his ear. He shrugged to himself and just walked to the upper level. He sat down and leaned back into the wall, a relaxed expression on his face.

"Aren't you going to watch your teammate's fight?" Blaze asked Naruto, making him open up one eye.

"What do ya mean?" He asked back. "He's obviously going to win."

"And you know this how?" Blaze asked, a brow raised.

Naruto grins. "He's Sasuke Uchiha." He closed his eyes and leaned back, making Blaze shake her head at his answer.

"That doesn't explain much."

"You'll see."

"Are both fighters ready?" Hayate asked as the two nodded. "Begin."

Yoroi, his right hand covered in chakra, charged at Sasuke, catching him off guard before he grabbed his head and brought him to floor as he laughed.

Sasuke struggled to get the hand off him before his eyes widened as he his Chakra leaving his body. "M-My chakra! You're absorbing it!"

"Ha! That's right! You're finally catching on!" Yoroi exclaimed.

Sasuke continued to struggle. "Get off!" He kicked him away and stood, huffing._ "That was close!"_

"Oh, so you still have a lot of strength in you." Yoroi stated. "Don't worry little man. I'll make it end short and sweet!"

He charged at Sasuke giving out yell as he tried to grab him again, though Sasuke quickly dodged out of the way. He kept at before he managed to touch Sasuke's hair and he felt weak.

"Huh? How is he absorbing Sasuke's chakra? He dodged that!" Tails asked.

"It's his hand." Blaze replied, getting Tails' attention. "Any physical contact he makes, be it body or even hair, and he can completely steal someone's chakra. As he gets stronger, Sasuke gets weaker."

"Isn't there anyway for Sasuke to beat that?" Tails asked, watching as Sasuke continued to avoid Yoroi's hand.

"Yup." Naruto replied. "Believe me Tails if it's Sasuke, he'll find a way around it."

"_This guy wants me to fight in hand to hand...what should I do?"_ Sasuke asked himself. He turns to look at Lee watching from the upper level and his eye widened. _"That's it!"_

Yoroi ran at him again, this time Sasuke dodged him more smoothly. He quickly crouched down low making it look like he disappeared.

"See? Told ya." Naruto smirks. "Come on Sasuke! Hurry and finish the guy! I'm getting bored here waiting!"

Sasuke heard what he said and couldn't help but smirk. He kicked Yoroi into the air. He jumped up and appeared behind him. But in the air Sasuke's body went numb and his Curse Mark started to cover him. Everyone saw it, especially Naruto, who had a serious look on his face.

"What…?" Naruto asked as he looked with narrowed eyes. What the hell was that glowing on Sasuke's neck? Is that what's causing him pain?

He looks at everyone and saw how Sakura and Tails looked fearful at the marks while Blaze and Kakashi had these serious expressions. Shikamaru and his Team had worried/somewhat scared expressions. The Jōnin and Chūnin narrowed their eyes especially Anko and the Old Man.

Whatever the hell those marks are, it's obviously not cool.

However, the marks were disappearing as if Sasuke fought back against it. He started to kick Yoroi in mid-air before he forced him down. He landed the final blow on the ground.** "Lions Barrage!" **

Yoroi twitched before he was knocked out.

"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha" Hayate announced.

"Heh. About time." Naruto smirks. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Kakashi escort Sasuke away as he gripped his neck. He turns to look at everyone, a dead serious look on his face. "So...does anyone wanna tell me about the marks that was on Sasuke's neck?"

That made Sakura and Tails flinch from that, making Naruto narrow his eyes. Okay now he really wants to know what the hell happened out there.

"It's…" Sakura looked at Tails from her shoulder, both of them remembering the promise they made to Sasuke about not telling Naruto about the Curse Mark. "Don't worry. It's nothing."

"Yup! Totally nothing! Orochimaru didn't do anything to Sasuke." Tails squeaked, making Sakura face palm.

"..." A deadpan expression appeared on Naruto's face as he stared at Tails then to Sakura, making them both sweat nervously. "Right…" He turns to Blaze and saw she shared the same expression as his. He heard from her that before she came, he and Sasuke were fighting each other and Sasuke had these black marks around him.

Now, seeing Tails and Sakura's reaction, just made him all the more suspicious, especially on this Orochimaru.

"We will now begin with the next match." Hayate's voice called out. Everyone turns to look at the electronic board as names began to flash quickly before they stopped.

**Zaku Abumi **

**vs. **

**Shino Aburame**

"Shino got this." Naruto stated.

"Whoa, really?" Tails asked curiously.

"And how do you know?" Sakura asked, just as Shino walked down the stage.

"Even though Shino is the silent type, he's still one of the most strongest guys in our class." Naruto grinned. "Heh, believe it or not, I wouldn't mind going up against him, though I kinda feel sorry for that Zaku dude. Shino is going to _destroy_ him."

"And why is that?" Blaze asked.

"Just watch." Naruto said, paying close attention.

Like Naruto said, Zaku hadn't stood a chance against Shino, even worse considering the former only had one hand to fight with in the first place. Although Shino revealed himself to be rather merciful, giving Zaku the chance to forfeit before he destroyed his other arm. Zaku, rather than taking that chance, decided to attack Shino anyways, sending a blast of pressurized air at the Aburame Heir who burst into a cloud of insects.

Shino even decided to give Zaku one last chance to forfeit after sending an army of insects behind him.

Even being faced with an army of insects and Shino standing out in front of him, Zaku still refused to forfeit. He tried blasting Shino again only for his one remaining arm to explode. According to the Aburame heir, he had ordered his insects to clog the hole in Zaku's wind chamber, causing the pressure to build up in Zaku's arm and make it burst. In that instance Shino was declared the winner.

"Amazing…!" Blaze said with a wide eyed expression. "I had no idea that there was a clan who use insects like that, let alone have them live _inside_ their bodies."

"I'll say!" Tails said in excitement. "The Hidden Leaf Village sure is full of amazing people! I wonder what the other ninja villages are like!"

"Like I said, Shino is a badass." Naruto said, before he sighed boredly. He just wants the fights to hurry up and end so that it can be his turn. Maybe if he catch some shut eyes...then...

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt drowsy for some reason. He looks around, seeing everything was blurry. "What the…?" He fell back on the wall and slid down before he lost consciousness.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and saw he was still at the Preliminary. Though something was different. Everybody was gone and the area looked black and white.

"What is this?" Naruto asked himself. "Blaze? Tails? Guys! Where are you!" He called out only to hear his echo. He jumps off and landed on the middle of the arena, looking around in confusion. "Something's definitely not right here."

"You got that right."

Naruto instantly turns around and looks up. His eyes widen before they narrowed. "You…" It was the Masked Boy, floating in mid-air. He smirks. "Heh. I've been wondering what happened to you. Where've you been this whole time?"

"Doing stuff." The Masked Boy replied as he crossed his arms.

"Oh? And what brought this little visit on if you were 'doing stuff'?" Naruto asked.

"I just came to tell you that you won't be fighting any of those chumps." The Masked Boy answered, much to Naruto's confusion. He turns to walk away. "The one who you'll be fighting...will be Yours Truly. See ya."

Naruto was gonna run after him but found himself getting pushed back by a powerful force.

* * *

"Naruto? Hey Naruto wake up." Tails shook Naruto. He looks up at everyone as they shrugged their shoulders. He turns back to Naruto and shook him once more. "Naruto!"

"HM!" Naruto's eyes were snapped opened, making Tails jump back in fright. He stood up, getting everyone that was close to look at him.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, seeing that expression on his student's face.

"...He's here." Naruto answered, which brought confusion around the group, except for Kakashi, who narrowed his eyes.

"What? Who's here?" Sakura asked as Naruto clenched his fists tightly.

"That guy in the mask." Everyone's eyes widen, along with the Hokage, who heard him.

"Huh?!" Tails looked around frantically. "W-Where is he?"

"I don't know." Naruto replied. "But keep your eyes open for anything suspicious."

Blaze narrowed her eyes along with Kakashi as he got ready for anything that might happen.

"Now we come to the next match." Hayate spoke up. They looked at the board before the names stopped.

**Conquering Storm**

**vs. **

**Kiba Inuzuka**

"Yahoo!" Kiba cheered. "Let's go Akamaru!"

"Bark!" Akamaru barked in agreement as his owner jumped off the platform and onto the arena floor.

"Conquering...Storm?" Naruto blinked. What an odd name. Or is that suppose to be a title? He looks and saw the straw hat girl from before walking down the steps, her hat covering her eyes. "Hey Tails. Who fought who when I was asleep?"

"Well…" Tails said, looking thoughtful. "Shino won his match like you said. Then it was someone named Misumi, from Kabuto's Team, against Kankuro, the boy from the Sand Team with face paint. Kankuro won that match by using a puppet! It was so cool! I didn't even know that someone could use puppets as a weapon!"

"...Seriously?" Naruto asked curiously, looking at the others.

"Yup." Kakashi nodded.

Wow. Using a puppet of all things in battle. He would've called that cheating but hey it's technically a weapon.

"What happened next?" Naruto asked.

"Well, Sakura and Ino were next...but they were both tied." Tails continued. "After that it was Tenten, from Lee's Team and that Temari girl from the Sand Team. Tenten lost though." Tails flinched as he recalled how it ended for her. "After them it was Shikamaru and that Kin girl from the Sound Team, and Shikamaru won."

"Huh. So now it's Kiba's turn." Naruto mused. But something just tells him that he's gonna lose this match.

"The seventh match; Conquering Storm vs. Kiba Inuzuka. Are both fighters ready?" The two nodded just as Kiba grinned and took a stance. "Begin."

"Get ready!" Kiba charged at Storm, who stood there calmly as though she was waiting for him. She moved out of the way, avoiding his elbow strike, before she kicked him in the stomach, making him gasp out before she uppercut him in the chin.

Storm jumped to the air, grabbing his leg before she spun around him around and threw him back to the floor, making him bounce off it.

Akamaru barked as he rushed to his partner, asking him if he was okay.

"I'm fine buddy. Damn she can hit hard." Kiba rubbed his chin. He watched as Storm landed on the ground, her hat still covering her eyes.

"Is that all you got?" Storm asked.

"Tch, not even close! I'll take you down with this!" Kiba exclaimed he reached into his pouch and took out two pills. "Let's go Akamaru!" He gave one to Akamaru, who caught it before he ate the other one.

"Bark!" Akamaru growled before his fur began to turn red.

Kiba got on all fours just as Akamaru jumped in the air and landed on his back. In a poof of smoke, Akamaru turned into Kiba.

"**Ninja Art: Man-Beast Clone!"**

The two Kiba charged at Storm and went to swipe her with his claws, only for her to avoid them. They were both running around her and were swiping their claws at her, but she still kept up with their movements and was avoiding them.

Storm soon smirked and kicked one of the Kiba's chin before she grabbed his leg and threw him at the other one, as he appeared behind her and both were skidding across the floor.

"I can't believe it. She's actually keeping up with Kiba and Akamaru." Kurenai said with a surprise look on her face. "Even when taking those Food Pills, she's actually reading into their movements."

"Oh. She's good." Sakura commented. "_Too_ good actually."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "It makes me wonder what Village she and her Team hails from." He noticed how she and her Team didn't have any Forehead Protectors on their being, making him wonder where they came from and who they're affiliated with.

"Hmph." Storm turns to the two and put her hand on her hips. "Just like any other dogs out there. All bark and no bite."

The two Kiba were growling at her before they got into a pose. **"Man-Beast Ultimate Taijutsu: Fang Over Fang!"**

At a ferocious speed, the two spun around really fast and were charging at Storm like bullets. Storm grinned however as she back flipped into the air and dodged one of the bullets. She bent backwards just as the other one almost hit her. She watched as the two ricochet on the walls before they charged at her again.

Blue electricity appeared around Storm as she smirks, which caught everyone's attention. She raised her hands to them and a powerful blast of electricity emerged from them, stopping the technique and making both Kiba scream out.

Everyone looked on with shocked/surprised expressions on their faces, except for Gaara who only stared at it blankly.

"Holy crap!" Shikamaru exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Is that a Jutsu?!" Ino asked.

"What in the world…?" Blaze asked.

"_Damn!"_ Asuma thought.

"Whoa... that's new." Naruto stated.

The electricity ended and the two Kiba fell to the ground, with Akamaru turning back. Kiba tried to get up but then he fell down.

"Like I said, all bark and no bite." Storm said, staring down at the two, ignoring the two medical nins coming in and taking the two away.

"Winner: Conquering Storm." Hayate announced.

Storm turns to walk away but stops for a moment. She looks up and turns to look at Naruto, who stared back at her. Everyone noticed this and wandered what was up between the two of them, though the older generation knew better. Storm was sending a silent message to Naruto and vice versa.

_"You're next."_ Her eyes told Naruto, which made him smirk a little bit.

_"Bring it on."_ Naruto's eyes told her.

"Hmph." Storm walks away and got off the arena floor.

"What was that about?" Sakura asked Naruto, who only continued to stare at the girl. "Naruto?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinks. "Oh uh... nothing." He shook his head and slapped his cheeks in excitement. "Okay! Now it's my time to shine! Let's do it-"

"_I told you, we were gonna fight next."_

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the Masked Boy's voice in his head before they widened further as he felt pain coming from his head, making him grip it. "GAHHH!" His scream made everyone turn to look at him.

"Naruto!" Blaze, Tails and Sakura quickly ran to him in concern.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Blaze asked as she held him.

Naruto didn't hear her question as he kept gripping his head. "It's... IT'S HIM!" He, along with everyone else that was close to him, felt a force push him off the catwalk and onto the arena floor. He flips and landed on his feet.

"What was that?!" Kakashi asked as he looked around.

"Where did it come from?" Blaze asked.

Hiruzen, along with the Leaf Chūnin and Jōnin, had alarmed expressions as they got ready.

"Naruto! Are you okay?" Tails called out.

"I'm fine." Naruto replied as he stood up and looked around. "I know you're here! Come out and show yourself!"

Ino was confused. "Huh? Who is he talking to?"

"Me."

Everyone's eyes widened at the unfamiliar voice, except Naruto, who had a glare on his face. They looked up on top of the statue fingers and saw a Masked Boy sitting there looking down at Naruto.

"_I couldn't sense him!"_ The Jōnin and Chūnin thought to themselves as they all tensed up. They were all experienced shinobi after all. So the fact that a boy, around the Genin's age group, suddenly appeared, didn't sit well with them.

"Who is that?" Lee asked as Neji narrowed his eyes at the Masked Boy.

"What the hell? Where did he come from?" Temari asked.

"This is...like that time with Gaara." Kankuro whispered as he turns to said boy, who looks up at the Masked Boy with a blank look on his face.

Shino could literally hear the bugs inside him buzzing in alarm, telling him that the Masked Individual before them was _extrememly_ dangerous. Even more dangerous than that Sand Genin. They were telling him to run as far away as possible.

"_Who is that? How does he know Naruto?"_ Hinata looked fearfully at the Masked Boy before turning to Naruto. Just by looking at him she could be feel that he was someone very powerful...and very dangerous.

"H-How long has he been sitting there?" Choji asked nervously.

"No way." Shikamaru said wide eyed.

"Is...is that him?" Tails asked as he hid behind Sakura's leg, who looked a little scared.

"I...I think so."

"…" Kakashi remained silent as he glared up at the Masked Boy. So this was the one who sent Naruto away and attacked him. He finally showed himself in front of everyone.

"_The Masked Boy…"_ Hiruzen thought as he glares up at the Individual in front of him. _"The one Naruto was talking about."_

"So you finally showed up, eh?" Naruto smirks and cracked his knuckles. "Good! I can finally pay you back for what happened back on Little Planet."

"Oh please." The Masked Boy said as he jumped off the statue and floated down. "Do you really think you can beat me after I mopped the floor with you? Well, glad to know that I left an impression on you."

"Impression? Pul-lease." Naruto scoffed. "You haven't left an impression. I don't know anything about you. Not even your name!"

"True. For now, you can call me...Nazo." Nazo introduced himself.

"_Nazo?"_ Kakashi asked himself.

"Great!" Naruto said happily, catching most off guard from the tone. "See, Nazo, now we're starting to know each other! So, what's your favorite color? Do you like long romantic walks on the beach? Who the hell are you and what's your beef with me? You can skip the first two questions if you like."

That made some Leaf shinobi sweat drop at Naruto's questions.

Blaze sighed and shook her head. "Of course he would do that."

Tails smiled. "Yup! That's Naruto for ya!"

"Yeah, being an idiot." Sakura added with a deadpanned expression.

"Who I am is none of your concern..._yet_." Nazo said. "And you and me? You don't know it but I got a _lot_ of beef with _you_ personally Naruto. Or better yet...would you rather I call you Sonic, Shadow or Silver? "

Hearing those names made Naruto's eyes widened in shock while everyone else looked confused.

"Sonic?" Tails asked as he tilt his head to the side in confusion. He saw the name on the Tornado before but he never got the chance to ask Naruto about it. He also didn't know why but for some reason, he's getting a weird déjà vu feeling just from hearing it.

"Huh? Shadow?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Silver?" Blaze frowned. That name...why does it feel familiar to her?

"Who the heck are they?" Ino asked.

"Whoever they are, it seems that Naruto knows them." Asuma said, noticing Naruto's expression turned into a scowl.

"Where did you hear those names?" Naruto growled out.

"Trade secret." Nazo said, making Naruto glare harder at him. "By the way, I got a surprise for you." He snapped his finger and a portal opened up above him, making everyone look at it before they saw something come out of it, floating down.

It were two kids, a boy and girl, around the Genins age. They were tied up and looked beaten up. Their eyes was closed, showing they were unconscious.

The girl has pink hair in a stylized curved bob cut. she wears a short sleeveless red dress with white trims, tall red boots with a white cuff and stripe, white socks, a red headband and white wrist-length gloves with gold cuffs.

The boy had red quill-like dreadlocks and was completely shirtless, showing his toned muscular body, dark green baggy pants, and strange looking shoes that were red, green and yellow. He also seems to have spikes on his knuckles.

Tails' eyes widened, along with Naruto's, as they recognized the two, though Tails only knows one of them. "Naruto! That's…!"

"AMY! KNUCKLES!" Naruto called out, a worried look on his face.

Blaze, Sakura, Kakashi, Hiruzen and Iruka's eyes widened as they stared at the two teens. It was them! From the stories that Naruto told.

"_That's _Amy…?" Sakura whispered wide eyed. _"She...she looks just like me!"_

"_So, that's Amy Rose and the Guardian of the Master Emerald."_ Hiruzen said to himself.

"...uh..." Amy's eyes twitched before they opened, revealing them to be a sparkling green, as she heard his voice. She looks up and saw her hero staring at her in shock and worry, making her smile, despite the pain she was in. "Naru...to." She lost consciousness.

"..." Naruto grit his teeth and glares at Nazo. "What have you done to them!?"

"Nothing. Your girlfriend came all the way over here to come see you. So I thought why not surprise you with her. As for the Knucklehead..." Nazo chuckled. "Well, he needed a little..._vacation_."

"You…" Naruto growled as his eyes flashed green and faint purple electricity is seen around him. "Let them go!"

"If you want them back, then come and fight me." Nazo told him as Amy and Knuckles began to float up on top of the statues.

"Fine by me." Naruto said. He turns to look at everyone, mostly to the Leaf Chūnin, Jōnin and the Hokage. "All of you stay back! Don't try and help me! This is between me and him."

"What? He's not seriously going to fight this guy is he?" Choji asked in a surprised tone.

"Guess so." Shikamaru replied.

"_Naruto…"_ Hinata thought worriedly. One look at this person already told her that he was trouble and dangerous and she instantly became worried that Naruto was gonna fight him one on one.

"But Naruto…!" Tails tried to reason.

"Let him go Tails." Kakashi said, much to the young fox's confusion. He looks up at Amy and Knuckles. "Like Naruto said, this is between the two of them."

Tails looked like he wanted to say something before he nodded and looked down at the fight worriedly.

Blaze had a frown on her face as she too looked worriedly down at Naruto. Seeing that expression on his face, he was dead serious on taking Nazo down. Still, she shall accept his decision and let him deal with it.

Hiruzen looked into Naruto's eyes and saw he was getting dead serious now. He also saw his eyes flashed green and the purple electricity around him, making him slightly concerned for Naruto. He looked to his fellow Jōnin and Chūnin before nodding his head, telling them to back off for now.

"This is gonna get messy." Shikamaru remarked.

Conquering Storm was paying full attention. Time to see what Naruto Uzumaki was truly made off and to see if he lives up to the Uzumaki name.

**Battle Music: Shut up Faker [Sonic Adventure 2]**

Naruto and Nazo charged at each other, they're fists connected as they slid back. Naruto sent a barrage of punches at Nazo, but he stood his ground and blocked all of them. He grabbed both of Naruto's fists and threw him over his shoulders.

Naruto flips in the air and used his telekinesis to float while his hands were covered in Chaos Energy. **"Chaos Spear!"**

He swiped his hands to the side as he sent a barrage of Chaos Spears at Nazo, but instead he charges at Naruto, while knocking the Spears away.

"What sort of jutsu is that? That Chaos Spear." Kurenai asked.

"It's not a jutsu. It's something completely different." Kakashi replied, much to some of the Genin and Jōnin's confusion. "The Chaos Spear is one of Naruto's many chaos powers."

"Chaos powers?" Lee asked.

"What do you mean?" Guy asked.

"Before I answer that question, allow me to explain the energy that gives Naruto his Chaos Powers." Kakashi said. "You see, inside Naruto, he has a secondary source of energy known as Chaos Energy."

This was met with some curious or confused gazes.

"Chaos Energy? What's that?" Ino asked.

"It's basically an unstable yet very powerful energy that came from these Chaos Emeralds that Naruto discovered when he was away weeks ago." Hiruzen answered, getting everyone's full attention.

"The Chaos Emeralds generates this energy by turning people's 'thoughts into power' and due to Naruto's strong connection to them, he is able to channel that power. Power that is more stronger _and_ destructive than the chakra we use."

Everyone, except for those who knew about the emeralds, looked shocked to the core about hearing such emeralds existing.

"And it's not just Naruto that can use it." The Third Hokage looks at the tied up Knuckles. "That young man, Knuckles, he can use Chaos Powers as well, seeing how he's the guardian of the Master Emerald. Which means that he and Knuckles are the only ones that knows how to control this unknown energy and use it in amazing feats. But Nazo seems to know how to channel this energy as well, making him the third."

"Incredible…" Lee said in awe as he looks at the match below him. He wasn't the only one either as everyone still looked wide eye from the information that their Hokage threw at them.

"What exactly are these Chaos Emeralds and this Master Emerald?" Neji asked.

"That is something you'll have to ask either Naruto or Knuckles later on." Kakashi said as he and the others turned back to the match.

Naruto grit his teeth as he blocked all of Nazo's kicks. The Masked Boy flipped over him and kicked his back, making Naruto stumble forward, before he turns back and glares at Nazo.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!" **Poofs of smoke appeared and three Narutos appeared, Kunais drawn. They then charged at Nazo.

"Shadow Clones. Really?" Nazo dodged all of the Narutos Kunai attacks before he grabbed both of them and slammed them into each other, making them disappear. He looks up in the air and saw one of them heading down to him.

Nazo raised his hand at the clone and a dark energy beam of darkness came and stabbed Naruto in the stomach, making him gasp out loud, before he disappeared. "Nice try." He moved his hand to the side as Naruto, the real one, came at him with the Spin Dash attack. He threw him at the statue before Naruto landed on it.

"Damn!" The red-streaked blond looked up and his eyes widened as he saw dark spears coming at him, making him jump off the statue and avoid them, before Nazo appeared in front of him, causing his eyes to widen.

"Boo." Nazo axe kicked Naruto to the floor, making him land on it hard as a mini crater was formed.

"Naruto!" Sakura and Tails screamed out his name.

"Ow." Naruto moaned as he rubbed his head. He glares up at Nazo as he floated back down to the surface. He grit his teeth and jumps in the air before doing a mid-air Spin Dash and charged at Nazo.

"Hmph." Nazo does it as well and the two clashed.

Everyone watched as the two spinning balls clash with each other as they tried to push one another back.

Choji looked wide eyed. "Whoa! That looks like my Human Boulder!"

"No." Sakura replied as Choji looked at her. "The move that Naruto's doing isn't that. It's called the Spin Dash."

"Spin what?" Shikamaru asked, raising a brow. What a weird name, but it does somehow fit.

"Spin Dash." Kakashi repeated. "And there's a lot of difference between this and the Akimichi Clan's Human Boulder. Where the Akimichi Clan enlarge their bodies into human sized balls, they use _chakra_ to propel themselves forward." He explained, still watching the two Spin Dashes going all over the place. "However, in Naruto's case when it comes to the Spin Dash, the idea came to him when he became inspired by how hedgehogs would often defend themselves from certain threats using their spikes and combined it with a somersault while running. That's how the Spin Dash was created."

"So wait, you saying that _any_ of us can do a Spin Dash?" Asuma asked in a surprise tone.

"Yeah!" Tails raised his hand from Kakashi's shoulder, getting everyone's attention. "I saw Naruto doing it when he came to West Side Island and I did it exactly like he did. Knuckles knows it too, even Sasuke!"

"And they're not the only ones." Kakashi eye-smiled. "Though I made mines a little…different, you should say."

Sakura looked down in sadness. Wow. Naruto, Sasuke, Tails and Kakashi-sensei knows how to do it and she doesn't. She kinda feels left out. She wanted to try and do it during her fight with Ino but she was scared that she might fail.

Blaze remained silent as she listened to the conversation but her eyes remained focused on the fight as the two Spin Dash collides with each other. She herself knows how to do it, but her version is called a Burst Dash, where instead of turning into a ball, she turns herself into a spinning fire tornado. In fact it was Naruto that came up with the name.

Naruto and Nazo clashed with each other once more before they got out of the Spin Dash, with Naruto glaring at Nazo.

"Wow, is that _really_ all you got?" Nazo asked mockingly as he started to walk towards Naruto. "Looks like I'm gonna have to rough you up and make you fight for real."

Suddenly, much to everyone's shock and disbelief, two after-images of Nazo appeared on either side of him and two more appeared on their sides as well. The after-images soon became real, meaning Naruto was now up against five Nazo.

"What the hell? What type of Clone Jutsu is that?" Asuma asked in a disbelief tone.

Naruto looks at them before he grins and rubbed his thumb across his nose. "Bring it." He does the Super Peel Out and charged at the original Nazo but him and his clones vanished, making him stop. The Ultimate Ninja blinked as he looked around for them. "Huh?! Where did-"

Nazo appeared in front of him as he punched him in the chin making him fly upwards before he jumped to him and kicked him to the wall.

Naruto groans as he fell down. He looks up in time and blocked a punch from another Nazo before kicking him away and charged at the one floating in the air. That Nazo avoided him making Naruto turn back before his eyes widen and he did a Stomp to avoid another Nazo. He used his Telekinesis on that Nazo, making him stop and then threw him at the one floating, but he dodged him, and he hit the wall.

Naruto then blocked a punch from the third Nazo before he punched him in the stomach and kicked him away. However, a fourth Nazo appeared behind Naruto and kicked him on his head, making him skid across the floor before he flipped on his hands and landed on his feet

"Hey!" Naruto called out. "Where's the real you!?" His eyes widened as he felt a presence behind him.

"Here."

Naruto felt Nazo pick him up before he threw him in the air. His eyes widened as he saw an energy blast coming his way. He used both arms to block it as it pushed him upwards.

But that didn't help him for what happened next.

"Naruto! Look out!" Blaze cried out.

"Huh? OOF!" Naruto felt a fist connect to his face as he got sent soaring. But before he could recover, he got attacked by one of Nazo's clones.

Everyone watched as all of Nazo's clones kept punching or kicking Naruto into one another in mid-air, as though he was some sort of ragdoll, in shocked silence. One of them even used an energy blast at Naruto, making him cry out in pain a little.

Hinata covered her mouth in horror as she watched her crush getting brutally beaten. _"No! Naruto!"_ She thought as tears began to gather in her eyes.

"Naruto!" Iruka called out as he gripped the railings, making his knuckles turn white. He has to go down there and stop this!

Hiruzen looked on calmly, but if one could look closely you could see him clenching his fist so tightly, it was miracle he hasn't drawn any blood.

Tails had a horrified expression on his face. Sakura covered her mouth at seeing such brutality happening to Naruto. Blaze began to grit her teeth as wisps of fire began to appear around her and Kakashi looked ready to jump in at any moment.

"He's getting beat!" Shikamaru exclaimed with a shocked look which was shared by Ino and Choji.

On the other side, the Sand Team looked on. Baki looked on with wide eyes, Kankuro was flinching, Temari cringed at the brutality, however Gaara looked on with an unchanged expression. But if one were to look closer, they could see his finger twitching.

Dosu looked with stunned silence as he watched the Uzumaki kid get beaten. Was that really the same kid from a few days ago? Or is it just that Nazo creep was way stronger?

Storm looked on with a neutral expression, while her Teammate's were flinching as though they were feeling the blows.

One of the clones sent an energy blast at Naruto, sending him to the other one before he axe kicked Naruto in the air. Another Nazo clone appeared just above him.

"Heh!" He held his hand out and chakra began to gather at his palm, taking shape into a spinning blue ball, which brought much shock to the Leaf Jōnin and Hokage.

"What?!" Kurenai asked in shock.

"Get the hell out of here!" Asuma said in disbelief.

"I don't believe it!" Guy said in shock.

"_No...It can't be…!"_ Hiruzen gasped. He couldn't believe it! He _refused_ to believe it! But it's right in front of him, before his very eyes. This boy knows the legendary **Rasengan**!?

"That's impossible! How does Nazo know _that_ jutsu!?" Kakashi asked, his lone eye widened in disbelief.

"What? What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as she and the others were wondering what got some of their Instructors freaked out.

Kakashi didn't answer as he was still stunned from what he was seeing.

Nazo's Rasengan began to take a darker color, turning completely black but with red wisps of energy surrounding it. Naruto opened his eyes before they widened as he saw Nazo charging at him with a Jutsu in his hand.

"**Dark Style: Rasengan!" **

"_He...he even completed it?!"_ Kakashi asked. Not only did Nazo know the Rasengan, he even added his own Nature into it?! That's something even his sensei wasn't able to do prior to his death. Hell he even tried applying his lightning nature into the Rasengan only to end up making the **Chidori** instead.

Just who on earth is Nazo?

Naruto instantly charged a Chaos Spear into his hand as he tried to counter-attack it. Both attacks, one made of chaos energy and the other made from chakra, clashed with each other, making a strong gust of wind and electricity to appear. The collison even made some people to cover their eyes, though they were still able to see.

Nazo began to push Naruto back, making him grit his teeth as he gathered more chaos energy into his Chaos Spear. A few seconds later, Nazo's attack suddenly bursts, making Naruto's eyes widen as he got pushed back to the floor, making a large cloud of dirt appear and cover his being.

"Naruto! Naruto! Can you hear me?!" Tails called out below.

Everyone looked on before they saw Naruto lying on his back into the crater. His body had some bruises while his clothes had some burn marks and were torn in some places. He was also bleeding from his head.

The only indication to know that he's still conscious is that he's coughing out blood.

And there was a _lot_ of blood.

**Battle Music Ends**

"NARUTO!" Sakura cried out.

Ino covered her mouth in horror while Shikamaru and Choji's eyes went wide with Choji dropping his bag of chips. Asuma flinched. Rock Lee and Guy looked horrorfied while Neji looked indifferent, but if you were to look closely you see sweat rolling down his cheek.

"Damn…" Kankuro flinched. "Hate to be that guy."

"No kidding." Temari agreed, actually glad that she didn't fight such a ruthless guy.

Iruka's eyes widen at the state of his former student before gritting his teeth and closing his eyes in anger. _"Why?! Why didn't I stop him?!"_

"Naruto!" With a fearful expression at seeing her crush in such a state, Hinata was about to run off and get him out of there, if not for Shino and Kurenai stopping her as she struggled. "Please! Let me go! I have to help him!"

"No Hinata!" Kurenai told her. "Nazo might kill you if you go near Naruto!"

"But…!" Hinata had tears fall from her eyes.

"Naruto!" Tails tried to fly down there but he got grabbed by Kakashi. "Naruto, I'm coming!"

"No Tails! It's too dangerous!" Kakashi told him.

"Naruto needs help!" Tails exclaimed as tears were gathered in his eyes.

"I know Tails." Kakashi said softly, rubbing Tails' head. "I know."

"Naruto…?" Blaze's eyes widen as she stared at Naruto's form before fire began to erupt around her and a fierce snarl appeared on her face as she glared at Nazo in anger. "You." She touched the railings and they instantly melted upon contact, making everyone who was near her, Sakura, Tails and Kakashi, back away in surprise while others looked on with shocked interest.

"**YOU!" **The Sol Princess was going to launch a stream of fire at Nazo but stopped when a hand grabbed her, stopping her. She glares at the person and saw it was Hiruzen. "What do you think you're-!"

"Please calm yourself, Blaze." The Third Hokage said softly. "Just believe in Naruto."

Blaze was going to say something before she felt Hiruzen trembling. She looked into his eyes and saw an emotion she never thought she see.

Rage. Rage at what that monster did to Naruto. But there was hope in his eyes as well, as though he believes Naruto will win this fight.

Blazd had a conflicting expression as she looked at him then back at Naruto before she reluctantly calmed herself down by taking a deep breath, her flames dispersed and she turns to the fight.

All of Nazo's clones came back to the original as he stared down at Naruto's form, who weakly glared up at him.

"Hmph. I see you still haven't gotten strong enough to take me down. What a shame." Nazo said as he stepped on Naruto's head, making him grit his teeth. "You really think that you're some super hero like Sonic and the other two? Please, you don't even look like you're _half_ the hero they were. Though to be honest, they were pretty pathetic _and_ weak."

Naruto's eyes widened in anger from that as he slowly balled his fists up.

"Also, your dream of being Hokage and calling yourself the _Ultimate Ninja_ are a joke." Nazo continued his taunting, ignoring the growl that escaped Naruto's lips. An evil smirk appears on his face, even though it's hidden.

Good. Time to push it _further_.

"You started off as a weak little loser, who was so desperate to be acknowledged by everyone in the village even though they didn't even give a damn about you. Now after meeting those little spiky rats, you suddenly think you're all powerful to call yourself such a stupid title? Sorry idiot. Once a loser, will always and forever will be a loser. Just like...your mother." Nazo said in a blank tone.

The cruel comment about Naruto's mother made the Leaf shinobi, along with Blaze and Tails, eyes widen in shock.

"_Naruto's...mother?"_ Hinata asked as she covered her mouth. Naruto's parents has always been a sensitive subject to him since he doesn't even know if they're alive or not. But now that Nazo just called Naruto's own mother a loser...there's no doubt that would upset Naruto.

Blaze thought the same thing as a furious glare was present on her face and it was aimed at Nazo. How _dare_ this fool talk about her best friend's mother like he knew her!

"What an awful thing to say!" Tails exclaimed, glaring at Nazo angrily.

Hiruzen and Kakashi took it more personally as they knew Kushina and she was anything _but_ a loser. The way Nazo disrespected her like that made them even more furious.

Meanwhile with Naruto, the mention of Nazo's disrespect towards the hedgehogs _and_ his mother made his eyes widen to the point his pupil shrank in absolute rage as purple electricity danced around and his kept flashing green.

"Now…what to do with you?" Nazo looks up at his captives. "Maybe I should kill those two right in front of you. No…I gotta better idea..." He turns to the others on the platform, more specifically Blaze, Tails and Sakura, holding his other hand to them. "I'll also kill your precious childhood sweetheart, along with the fox brat and that useless teammate of yours."

Everyone's eyes widened at what Nazo just said, none more so than Blaze, Tails and Sakura. This guy wasn't just messing with Naruto...he was _torturing_ him! And he was gonna take it further by _killing_ them?!

"This guy..." Storm said with narrowed eyes. To kill someone's comrades in front of them just because they couldn't beat them? This Nazo is not honorable.

"_What_ is this guy's problem?" Kankuro asked.

Temari looked at Gaara, but thankfully, he still has that same look on his face like he always do. Good. It means that Gaara's bloodlust isn't going crazy.

Nazo raised his left at Amy and Knuckles before raising his other at Blaze, Tails and Sakura, making everyone tense up. Chaos Energy began to gather up making them tense further.

"Say bye-bye to your friends, Naruto." The energy began to get bigger and Nazo looked ready to fire his attack.

**POW!**

Before anyone could make a move, Nazo got sent flying into a wall above the entrance by a punch sent to his covered face, making everyone's eyes widen. They looked and saw Naruto, his fist out and shaking uncontrollably, while his hair covered his face and blood was dripping.

"I don't care what you say about _**me**_. But..." Naruto said in a dark tone which made everyone except Nazo tense up, even more so when they felt the Killing Intent coming off of him. "Don't _**ever**_ disrespect Sonic, Shadow, Silver _**and**_ my parents…"

Everyone shook as they heard Naruto's voice keeps changing from his normal voice to an even deeper, almost demonic, voice.

"And Nazo...if you **ever…**" Purple electricity is seen dancing around him, making everyone who remembered what happened days ago, tense up. **"Lay a **_**fucking**_** finger on my friends…"** Black energy began to appear around him. Naruto raised his head, revealing his dark feral expression, and glowing green eyes.

With the blood dripping down from his forehead, it made Naruto look almost look like a demon.

"**I'LL KILL YOU!"**

Everyone's eyes widened as a dark purple/black aura appeared around him. _"This...darkness!"_

Naruto gave a roar and disappeared. He appeared in front of Nazo, grabbing him by his mask before he threw him hard at the arena floor. Naruto appears behind him and went to swipe him with his claws, but Nazo vanished.

Naruto growled and looked around. He sensed Nazo above him, making him jump back as he tried to land a punch on him. Naruto once again growled before his eyes widen and he fell on his knees.

"AAHH!" Naruto's voice returned to normal as he gave out a pained scream. His feral appearance returned to normal, but the purple electricity and energy were still around him.

Unknown to everyone, Knuckles twitched for a moment.

Dosu went wide eyed. _"No! Is he gonna transform again?!" _Because if he does, then he is out of here! He does not want to deal with _that_ again!

"Oh no!" Tails cried ouf as Sakura looked a bit fearful while Blaze clenched her fists.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called out, seeing his student's eyes flash from green to blue as though he was fighting for control.

"This is…" Choji's eyes widened fearfully as he remembered what happened all those days ago. Naruto's monstrous form appearing in his head. "Like last time!"

Shikamaru had sweat running down his face as he gulped. It looked like Naruto was beginning to transform again but he was fighting it. He heard footsteps moving back, making him look and saw it was Ino, eyes filled with terror.

"W-What's going on?" Hinata asked worried. "What's happening to Naruto?"

Kurenai didn't say as she was too stunned by what's happening to answer.

Hiruzen's eyes widened as he watched Naruto continue to scream and struggle to take control. Just what in the world happened to Naruto out there?

"So…" Nazo spoke up as he walked up to the struggling Naruto. "Looks like you're starting to get use to that little gift I gave you."

"W...What?!" Naruto gave a shocked looked, which was shared with everyone else, some who seen Naruto's transformation and those who heard of it. "_You_ did this too me?" He tried to stand but he got on a knee. He glares at Nazo. "Then that black box from before with that purple smoke...that was yours?"

"Heh." Nazo chuckled. "What do you think?"

"Bastard! What have you done to me!?" Naruto demanded.

"Beat me and I'll tell you." Nazo told him.

**Insert Song: Fist Bump (Instrumental) [Sonic Forces]**

Naruto glares at Nazo. He took a look at Amy's unconscious form, along with Knuckles, before he stood up, his hair shadowing his eyes. He wipes the blood off his lips.

"Play time's over." He spoke in a serious voice.

A determined expression appears on Naruto's face as he took on Shadow's fighting stance. Unknown to him and everyone else, Shadow's spirit appears and seems to overlap next to Naruto as he took the same stance.

"Time to step it up." They said at the same time before Shadow vanished

"...Hmph." Nazo took a stance.

"_Hmm, that's a new and unique stance."_ Hiruzen said, staring at Naruto's new fighting stance. Looking at Naruto, he now has a focused and still breathing pace stance that involves flexing his leading fist in anticipation and having his following hand at an awkward ready. And that expression on his face...Minato had the same kind of expression when it comes to fighting seriously.

Kakashi blinked in surprise at the new fighting stance his student is in. _"What sort of fighting style is this? Did Naruto create it himself?" _

"_Now the real fight begins."_ Storm thought as she crossed her arms. Time to see what Naruto Uzumaki is truly made of.

"Naru..." Blaze whispered softly._ "Please, stay safe." _

"Yeah!" Sakura nodded happily before she cheered. "Take him down Naruto!"

"C'mon Naruto! You can win!" Tails cheered.

"_Good luck Naruto."_ Hinata thought, holding her hands in prayer._ "Please be careful."_

Naruto smirks as he heard the cheering from Sakura and Tails, and he knew that Blaze was no doubt cheering for him as well. "Let's dance."

The Ultimate Ninja took a step forward but vanished. He instantly reappeared and punched Nazo's face, shocking everyone watching except for a select few.

"W-What the hell?!" Shikamaru asked in shock.

Naruto vanished again before he reappeared once more and punched Nazo multiple times. He was going so fast with his punches that it looked like a blur. Naruto then grabbed Nazo before throwing him in the air.

Nazo quickly floated and saw Naruto charging at him. He charged at him as well and the two clashed with each other, their forearms connected to each other. They stood like that for a second before vanishing.

"They're gone?!" Lee asked in disbelief as he looked around for them.

"Where did they-?!" Sakura was interrupted by a powerful force that came out from a distortion in space.

Everyone watched the two lights of Naruto and Nazo clash with each other for a few moments before they stopped in mid-air as they caught each other's fist. The two jumped away from each other for a moment but then clashed as they sent a barrage of punches and kicks at each other which they either blocked or avoided.

However, they soon vanished but loud clashes was heard throughout the whole arena. They appeared for a moment before they vanished again.

"What's up with these guys?!" Shikamaru asked, trying to find them.

"I can't keep track of them!" Choji said.

"Amazing! They're going so fast!" Lee exclaimed in surprise. From the looks of it, they're probably going even faster than _him_ when he's not wearing his weights and Naruto looks like he doesn't even wear weights!

"Whoa! Is that really Naruto?" Ino asked in disbelief. Was that really the same loud mouth kid from back in the Academy? When did he get so strong?

"_The Sharingan can't keep up with them!"_ Kakashi thought. They're just...moving too fast for the Sharingan to see. This is definietly a whole new level of speed.

"Kakashi, what kind of training did you put Naruto through to reach such speed?" Guy asked in a confused/amazed tone. He's been watching Lee train since he was young and he's been training with him. So to see someone out there that can move even _faster_ than him was unheard of anywhere.

"Naruto's speed isn't from training. That's how fast he's really going." Kakashi said, much to the Leaf ninjas surprise.

"Hold up, you mean to tell us that's Naruto's _actual_ speed? _Without_ chakra?" Asuma asked.

"Yeah." Tails answered this time. "When it comes to speed, Naruto is in a class of his own. In fact, he's so fast, he can run faster than the speed of sound." His reply shocked most of the Leaf Shinobi.

"What?! The speed of sound!?" Choji asked in surprise.

"Impossible." Neji denied. "There is no way that someone can move that fast."

"It's true." Hiruzen said, getting everyone's attention, his eyes never leaving Naruto and Nazo's fight, even though they keep appearing and disappearing for a few moments. "I've seen how fast Naruto can be. In fact, I took him to the doctor at one point to test his speed. We soon learned the hard way that Naruto's speed is beyond what we expected." He chuckled as he remembered the broken machine and Naruto scratching his head in a sheepish manner. "Still, even the best doctors have no idea what Naruto's true speed really is and I highly doubt any others would know it too. But I already figured it out."

That confused everyone, except for Blaze, Tails, Sakura and Kakashi obviously.

"What do you mean Lord Third?" Anko asked. "If this kid is _faster_ than than the speed of sound, then how fast is he really?"

"He means that Naruto's speed is so great and unique, he can move faster than the speed of light itself." Blaze replied this time as some of the shinobi's eyes widen comically while others in surprise. "To Naruto, moving at light speed is 'small time' to him. He said so himself."

"Wait a second, if he can move that fast why haven't we seen him do it at the Academy?!" Ino asked in complete confusion. "You telling us he was holding back this whole time?"

"Not really. Naruto has always been fast on his feet since he was child. We just didn't know to what extent." Hiruzen said, remembering how every Chūnin and Jōnin couldn't catch Naruto. "But as he kept growing over the years, his speed somehow kept increasing more and more."

"And because of his speed, every second of every day, Naruto keeps growing stronger." Blaze finished before she smirks in amusement. "If anything, he is getting closer to being Hokage sooner than we think."

Everyone was in awe at hearing such a thing. None more so than those who've been to the Academy with Naruto. They always knew that after Naruto pulls a prank, he would always vanish and _no one_ couldn't catch him.

"_Then that would mean, he's even faster than Lee and Guy-sensei…"_ Neji thought.

Lee's eyes sparkled as he watched Naruto dodge and block Nazo's attack and energy blast before he counter-attacked with his own. To think that Naruto can move faster than the speed of light, which is scientifically impossible for a human being even with chakra! Yet somehow, a loser, someone like him actually made it possible! He is very lucky to have such an amazing gift!

"_My Flames of Youth are shining!"_ A fiery aura appeared around Lee. Yes! He knew Naruto was someone special the moment their eyes met each other when they introduced themselves a few days ago! Now he would like challenge Naruto in order to see how far ahead he truly is when it comes to speed.

"Sheesh! The hell is up with these two?" Kankuro asked. "I can't see them!"

"Damn! My eyes hurt just from trying to keep up with them!" Temari exclaimed, rubbing her eyes a little bit.

Storm and her team just watched on with interest. To think that Naruto Uzumaki would move at such a speed along with that Nazo character. Though if Storm was honest with herself, she was hoping to see some Uzumaki Clan Sealing Techniques to see if he was who he claims to be. Or better, the legendary infamous **Chakra Sealing Chains** that members of the Uzumaki Clan possess. But so far he hasn't used none.

"_Could he be wanting to use them until the next round of the exam?"_ Storm asked herself with narrowed eyes. _"Or does he not know about his own clan?"_

It would honestly make sense. After all, he is (supposedly) the last of the famous Uzumaki Clan as the rest have been extincted or scattered out throughout the world. Either way, she'll find out soon. For now, she'll sit back and enjoy the show.

Naruto charges at Nazo, but just before he could attack, the Yellow Flash's son vanished and was running around him as after-images of him were seen. "Try to keep up!"

Everyone, except for Tails and Blaze, looked on in stunned silence at seeing the after images of Naruto attacking Nazo in many directions.

"Whoa! How is Naruto doing that?" Sakura asked with an awe expression.

"He's entered **Boost Mode**." Blaze replied.

"Boost Mode?" Kakashi raised a brow.

"Yeah." Tails nodded. "It's basically a higher level of speed that's entered after running for a while at top speed. As you can see, it can leave after images. But the only ones who knows how to enter it is me and Naruto." He turns to Blaze curiously. "How do you know about it Blaze?"

"Because I can enter it as well." Blaze answered much to their surprise.

"Cool!" Tails smiled happily.

"Boost Mode…" Lee muttered as he looked _very_ interested at the technique, judging by the stars in his eyes which was matched by Guy.

"_So just like the Spin Dash and the Homing Attack, we can also learn how to enter Boost Mode."_ Kakashi thought to himself. Naruto is definitely teaching them a lot of new techniques that he's come up with. What was that old saying again? The student becomes the teacher while the teacher becomes the student.

Kakashi soon narrowed his eyes as he begins to see smoke coming from the soles of Naruto's feet. It would seem that Naruto is going so fast on his feet, it's causing his sandals to slightly burn up. Meaning that if Naruto keeps on going faster and faster, the sandals will end up burning.

"_No wonder he wore those shoes."_ Kakashi thought.

Hiruzen had the same thoughts exactly. He may be old, but nothing escape his keen eye. _"No wonder Naruto's shoes, or sneakers as he calls them, never got burned during his examination. They were made from special materials that made them heat resistance."_ It won't be long until Naruto ends up burning those sandals once he starts running.

Looks like they're gonna have to find some brand new shoes that can handle Naruto's speed without burning up. Thankfully, Hiruzen knows someone who can help with that and is happy to know that same someone will be returning to the Leaf Village soon.

Naruto had quickly avoided an attack from Nazo's energy blast. He grins in cocky manner. "Okay! Time to finish this with my ultimate technique!" He does a Spin Dash and began to charge up.

"Ultimate technique, huh?" Nazo asked as he took a stance.

Everyone watched as orbs of white light appeared and entered his body.

"What the hell? What's happening?" Temari asked, looking at the lights that were gathering towards Naruto. "And where did those orbs come from? Is it a jutsu?"

"I don't think so." Kankuro muttered.

Gaara continued to watch with arms crossed but this time his eyes were narrowed as he watched Naruto and this Nazo character. He was also trembling as he kept his gaze on Naruto.

Knuckles twitched once more before he started to open his eyes. _"W-What the hell…what happened?" _He looks down and blinks a couple of times to get rid of the blurry vision.

Naruto stops spinning, but his whole body was glowing in a neon like blue light, much to everyone's amazement. He grins as Nazo summoned his clones out again and they charged at him.

"Ready…" He waits until they were close enough. "GO!"

Naruto disappeared into a flash of neon blue light. The light attacked the Nazo clones as they got sent flying away but were getting attacked by the flashes.

"_T-This is…"_ Hiruzen thought wide eyes as he watched the blue flash. This move...this was like the **Flying Thunder God**! The same one that the Second Hokage invented and the one that earned Minato his title **'Yellow Flash'**. Where on earth did Naruto learn such a technique?

The Jōnin and Chūnin were equally shocked and amazed at seeing the blue flash instantly going after every Nazo clone in an instant. However, Kakashi was the most amazed of them all as he was reminded of his sensei.

The Genin were in awe as they watched Naruto fight all of the Nazo clones at once. Storm had an interested look on her face, Dosu looked surprised along with the Sand Team except Gaara, who was wide eyed.

"Yeah!" Tails cheered in excitement as he jumped around. "It's the **Light Speed Attack**!" His words caught everyone's attention.

"The what attack?" Asuma asked as Tails excitedly turns to him.

"The Light Speed Attack! It's a move that allows Naruto to attack at light speed!" His reply shocked everyone. "Back on Angel Island, Naruto found something called the Ancient Light. When he absorbed it, it allowed him to unlock the Light Speed Attack!"

That made everyone's eyes widen in awe as they stared at the amazing blue light that was Naruto.

"The Light Speed Attack..." Kakashi whispered. This technique was so _similar_ to the Flying Thunder God it was scary. But from the looks of it, it would seem that this technique can only be used by Naruto himself seeing how he absorbed this Ancient Light that Tails was talking about. But that just leaves the question of _what_ this is Ancient Light is?

"_This technique is definitely like Minato's own Flying Thunder God_." Hiruzen thought to himself, smiling fondly. _"It is no coincidence that the Light Speed Attack is similar to it. Minato...did you somehow leave this gift for Naruto?"_

"Really? That's awesome!" Choji said in excitement as he turns back to the fight in awe.

"This guy…" Shikamaru smirked. "He's definitely not the Naruto we grew up with."

"Ain't that the truth." Ino agreed.

"Way to go Naruto!" Sakura cheered.

"_Youth! I am getting fired up even more!"_ Lee thought as the fiery aura came back. He has now found himself a new rival in Naruto Uzumaki! His Flames of Youth is shining so very brightly! And now he must shine as well to catch up to him!

"_Naruto, you're incredible!"_ Hinata thought with a happy smile.

Blaze had a smile on her face. For a moment, after seeing Naruto getting beaten like that, she wanted to get down there and make Nazo have a taste of her power. But seeing him getting back up and fighting back, she backed down. He was definitely going to win this fight!

"_Amazing…!"_ Kakashi thought as he watched each Nazo clone vanish into thin air. Looks like Blaze was right. Naruto keeps growing stronger and stronger every day. "Hm?" For a brief second, Kakashi thought he saw the blue flash turn into a yellow flash, making his eyes widen for a moment. _"Fourth?"_

"Where...where am I?" Knuckles muttered as he looked up. Due to his blurry vision, he had to blink a couple of times and shake his to get rid of it. "Wha…" A bright blue light moving from place to place really fast. He looks around some more before noticing a certain two tailed fox. "Wait...Tails? Hey! Tails!" He called out, getting everyone's attention.

"Knuckles!" Tails smiled happily.

"What's going on? Where is this?" Knuckles asked. He tried to move but looked down and saw he was tied up. "And why am I tied up?!"

"It's Naruto! He's fighting Nazo!" Tails told him, pointing at the battle.

Knuckles' eyes widened before they were narrowed in anger. He remembers now. That creep in the mask that got the jump on him! "Nazo…!" He looks at the battle before him while struggling to get out of his binds.

Once all the Nazo clones vanished, there was only one left and Naruto was just about finishing him off. Once he sent Nazo to the air with a devastating uppercut. He instantly appeared on the ceiling, staring down at Nazo with a grin before he charged at him with a Spin Dash.

Naruto landed a direct hit as both were sent falling back down to the arena floor.

**Insert Song End**

**BOOM!**

The Ultimate Ninja slammed Nazo down to the ground as a large crater was formed. He bounced off of him and got out of the crater, smirking down at Nazo.

"How'd you like that tough guy?"

"He...won…?" Sakura whispered. A bright happy smile soon appeared on her face.

"HE WON!" Tails shouted out happily. "Naruto won!"

Kakashi sighed in relief. He stares at Naruto before he eye-smiles, pulling his Forehead Protector down to cover the Sharingan. _"Like father, like son."_

"All right Naruto!" Ino cheered.

"About time he won." Shikamaru smiled.

"Yahoo! Nice one!" Choji cheered.

"Yes! What an incredible battle!" Lee exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"..." Neji closed his eyes. Very impressive. He'll have to keep an eye on Uzumaki.

"Naruto won! T-Thank goodness." Hinata whispered as she wiped the tears away from her eyes, smiling softly.

"That boy...never ceases to amaze me." Hiruzen smiled.

"Dumb idiot!" Iruka smiled as he gave a laugh. "Almost got me scared for a moment!"

"So he won." Storm said as she closed her eyes and smirked. "Not bad Uzumaki."

"Damn. And it was starting to get intense." Kankuro said as Temari nodded.

Baki looked at Gaara and saw his trembling hand. He looks up and saw his narrowed eyes. His blood-lust...it's starting to act up. He must be getting anxious to want fight that Uzumaki kid.

"Great job." Knuckles said, getting Naruto's attention as he smiled happily.

"Bout time you woke up, Chuckles!" Naruto chuckled, making Knuckles growl in annoyance.

"Quit calling me that, Fishcake!" Knuckles told him, making Naruto growl back. He destroyed the rope that binded him and fell to the floor, landing on his feet.

"Amy!" Naruto instantly turns to the captured girl and runs to her, just as she began to fall to the floor. He immediately caught her bridal style and took out a kunai, cutting the ropes off. "Amy! Hey Amy! Are you okay?"

"N...Naruto…?" Amy opened her eyes and immediately blushed as she saw Naruto's slightly bloody face close to hers. A bright smile appeared as her eyes sparkled, making Naruto blink. "NARUTO!"

"GAH!?"

Amy immediately jumped Naruto, arms wrapped around his neck and her cheek rubbing his, making a massive blush appear on his cheeks. It grew further as he felt her chest against his once again.

Knuckles smirked mockingly at Naruto, making the Ultimate Ninja glare at him in annoyance. He soon looked at the crater Nazo was, a serious look on his face as he walked up to it, bumping his fists together.

"Oh Naruto! I'm so glad you're okay!" Amy cried as tears gathered in her eyes. "I missed you so much!"

"Take it easy! I'm still hurt!" Naruto told her, his face still red. "And let me go! You're embarrassing me!" But Amy didn't care as she was just so happy to see her love interest again.

Everyone stared at the comical scene with various reaction.

Hinata looked on with a comical shocked expression, Tails was giggling, Asuma chuckled, Sakura and Ino were gushing, Shikamaru shook his head, Choji blinked, Hiruzen released a chuckle, Lee and Guy cheered, Kurenai looked amused, Anko was laughing out loud, Iruka was trying not laugh, Neji looked bemused, and Kakashi was surprised.

On the other side, Storm raised a brow, Gaara stared at Naruto before looking at Nazo, Temari and Kankuro were snickering and Baki shook his head. Dosu was sweating nervously.

"Whoa. Talk about seeing the loop hole." Kakashi said as he was reminded of Sakura doing that to Sasuke. It also didn't help that Amy looked exactly Sakura.

Kakashi suddenly felt the air around him get hot for some reason, making him look to the side. His eye widened, seeing small flames dance around a crossed arm Blaze as she stared at the two with a half lidded expression. He immediately stepped away from her, along with Tails.

"_I better stay away from her."_ The Jōnin sweat dropped.

Naruto shivered fearfully. _"Someone's glaring at me…"_ He also noticed it was getting hot, letting him know that Blaze was indeed angry. He slowly turns to her and saw her half lidded expression as well as her fiery aura, making him sweat. Well, he's in trouble.

"He's gone!" Knuckles' voice echoed out in disbelief getting everyone's attention. He clenched his fists and punched the floor. "Nazo vanished!"

Naruto instantly got Amy off him and ran towards the crater. He looked down at the empty crater. His eyes narrowed while everyone looked shocked.

"W-Where did Nazo go?!" Sakura asked in shock.

"...It was a clone." Kakashi said. He and everyone else heard someone clapping.

"Bravo. Looks like you indeed got stronger."

Everyone turns and saw Nazo leaning on the wall and was clapping his hands. Amy's eyes widened fearfully as she instantly ran to Naruto's side and wrapped her arms around his. She definitely remembers him. He tried to kidnap her but she fought back, only to end up getting beaten.

"Nazo!" Knuckles was about to charge at him before Naruto put his arm out in front of him, stopping him. He looks at him in confusion and annoyance. "What are you…?!"

"Tell me something." Naruto said, ignoring Knuckles, as he put his arm down. "Have I been fighting you this whole time or was it a damn clone?"

"Oh no. You have been fighting me. The _real_ me." Nazo answered. "I just switched places with the clone before you did your little light show."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. This guy is _way_ stronger than he lets on. "Well there you go. I won and I got my friends back. Now tell me...what the hell was that smoke and what did it do to me?"

"Smoke?" Knuckles raised a brow at Naruto. What was he talking about?

"You sure you wanna know?" Nazo asked.

"Yeah I do! Answer my question!" Naruto growled.

Nazo chuckled. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Naruto glares at him. "The purple smoke that you inhaled after you got hold of my little box...was the energy of **Dark Gaia**."

His reply confused everyone none more so than Naruto. But for some reason, everyone started to tense at hearing such a name. The Hokage himself begins to almost tremble as well, but he paid close to attention to hear what this Masked Boy had to say to Naruto and explain what this Dark Gaia is.

"D-Dark Gaia...?" Amy said in a scared whisper as she instantly hugged Naruto's arm.

"What is this Dark Gaia?" Naruto asked.

"Dark Gaia is the incarnation of darkness, night and destruction. A

primordial hyper energy organism, born since the dawn of time. In other words, the beginning of everything." Nazo answered as everyone's eyes widened at hearing that.

"W-What…?" Naruto asked in a shocked tone.

"Time for History Class children, so I suggest you pay close attention." Nazo told everyone as though he was a teacher. "Like I said, Dark Gaia originates from the beginning of time, having been spawned in the core of the earth after the planet first came into being, along with its counterpart Light Gaia. Think of them as...manifestations of the world's balance between light and darkness."

Everyone's eyes widened further as Nazo continued.

"Dark Gaia's purpose is to destroy this planet, while Light Gaia is to protect it from its evil counterpart. This started an endless conflict between Dark Gaia and Light Gaia, creating a continuous cycle of the destruction and rebirth of the earth over the eons."

Amy suddenly felt Naruto shake. She looks up at him worriedly and her eyes widened as she saw something she had never seen on Naruto's face...fear.

"In this cycle, Dark Gaia would sleep in the earth's core for millions of years, gathering negative energy from the world in order to mature. It would then awaken during the Time of Awakening as _Perfect_ Dark Gaia and break the planet apart before trying to utterly destroy it. Each time, however, Dark Gaia would be defeated by Light Gaia, who would rebuild the world and return Dark Gaia to dormancy, leaving it to gather up negative energy to awaken anew."

Nearly everyone gasped in shock at this revelation. The Jōnin, Chūnin, not even the Hokage himself, knew such creatures existed! Yes they knew about the Tailed Beasts but _never_ of this Dark Gaia or it's counterpart.

Sweat began to run down Naruto's face as his eyes begins to widen.

"Hold on, that doesn't make sense!" Iruka shouted, having enough of what that boy was saying. "You're telling us that some monster, that's been here since the beginning of _everything_, has been trying to destroy our planet for eons and Light Gaia has been protecting us!?"

"Yes." Nazo nodded.

"And you expect us to believe all that crap?" Anko asked with crossed arms, a doubtful expression.

"I really don't care what you believe. I'm speaking the truth." Nazo said. "But then again…" He looks up at Sakura and the others and pointed at them. "You can ask them. After all, they saw what happened to Naruto a few days ago and you've felt it's presence when he transformed."

That made everyone tremble as they did recall sensing that thing's power.

"But that's impossible! If that's true then how come none of us heard of this thing until now?" Temari asked, freaked out to learn that there's a monster living inside their planet's core and is currently asleep.

"That's because it's written in the **Gaia Manuscripts**, which have been lost for long time." Nazo replied.

"_Gaia Manuscripts?"_ Hiruzen asked with a narrowed look on his face. Looks like he'll have to look into that later.

"How...how did you do it?" Naruto asked, getting everyone's attention. They couldn't see his expression because of his hair shadowing his eyes but they could definitely see his body trembling. "How did you gather Dark Gaia's energy if this thing is _in_ the planet's core right now?"

"That's right!" Blaze agreed with Naruto's question as it didn't make sense how Nazo managed to get this energy. "This Dark Gaia is still within the core of the planet, so it's impossible to get there! And it's obvious that this 'Time of Awakening' has not yet come in our era."

"That's because I went there." Nazo answered, shocking everyone and making Naruto grit his teeth in anger. He chuckled at the reactions. "Oh yeah. It was incredible seeing all of that negative energy coming together to form Dark Gaia. I took a lot of sample of it...and gave it to you Naruto."

Naruto was now huffing as purple electricity appeared, making Amy let go of him in surprise.

"N-Naruto?" Amy asked as she back away from him, seeing more electricity appear around him as his hair began to get spikier.

Knuckles turns to Naruto with a surprise look, though his body did get tensed a little bit. If Naruto was going to change because of this Dark Gaia thing, then he will definitely get ready for a fight if need be.

"That's right Naruto." Nazo said. "Deep down inside you, you now hold the energy of the greatest and most deadliest deity this world has never seen or heard of before. Until now that is."

Naruto took a step forward before he began to walk to Nazo, getting everyone's attention.

"How does it feel? How does it feel to have a power that surpasses even the almighty Nine-Tails Fox?" Nazo continued to taunt him, completely not caring of the wide eyes of everyone inside the arena. "No, that's not right. This power...is far stronger than the monster that's been around before the Nine-Tails' birth or that _woman_."

"What?" Blaze narrowed her eyes at Nazo. What on earth was he talking about now? Woman? What woman? _"And...Nine-Tails?"_ She looks at Naruto softly.

"Nine-Tails...Fox?" Tails whispered softly as the memory of the giant fox appeared in his head, making him grip his tails nervously.

"What the hell is a Nine-Tails Fox?" Knuckles asked in confusion.

"Nine...Tails…" Amy whispered as she looked at Naruto worriedly. In one of her Tarot cards, before meeting Naruto, she saw a picture of a baby Naruto and the spirit of a giant Nine-Tails Fox behind him, so she already knew about it being sealed in Naruto.

"_Something...that surpass the Nine-Tails?!"_ Hiruzen thought in shock. He knows that out of all the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails Fox is definitely stronger than any one of them.

But to hear something that surpasses even the Nine-Tails of all Beasts did not sit well with him and it made him nervous. And what did he mean by monster that's been around before the Nine-Tails' birth?

"_Does that mean…?!"_ Temari, Baki and Kankuro looked to Gaara and saw his shocked wide eyed expression and he was trembling. There's no doubt about it. The Demon inside is starting to wake up.

"Speaking of, how is that giant furball Naruto? I'm sure it-"

"**SHUT UP!"** Naruto roared as he attempted to punched Nazo across his mask, only for him to catch it in his fist, making a shockwave erupt.

"Talk about rude." Nazo mocked.

"WHY?!" Naruto demanded as he glared at Nazo hatefully, his eyes now cat-like green. "Why did you give me this thing's power!?"

"It's simple; I'm preparing you...for war." Nazo answered.

"W...War...?!" Naruto asked in disbelief as horrified expressions appeared on some of the Leaf Genins expressions. Knuckles looked shocked, Amy covered her mouth in horror, Blaze had her eyes widened and Tails had a scared expression.

"And guess what? You and me? We are a part of it. Me? I'm with the bad guys. And you? You're with the goodie two-shoes." Nazo continued as he released Naruto's fist, making him step back as his eyes returned to normal.

The Jōnin and Chūnin eyes were widened in further shock, none more so than the Third Hokage, whose shocked was mixed in with horror. The Sand Team, except for Gaara, eyes widened as well. Conquering Storm herself was shocked silent along with her team.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto demanded.

"I'll give you a hint." Nazo came up to Naruto and whispered something to his ear so no one could hear him.

Naruto's expression showed confusion as he stared at Nazo, just as he stepped back and started to walk backwards.

"Heh. See you around Naruto." Nazo said. "And don't try and get yourself killed. That's _my_ job."

"Nazo!" Knuckles charged at him. But before he could even land a hit, Nazo vanished within the blink of an eye. He grit his teeth as Nazo's laughter could be heard before it vanished.

Naruto looks down at his trembling hands, eyes widened in shock and fear. No...oh please no...why...why did this have to happen to him?! The Nine-Tails was bad enough...but now _this_!?

"…" Hiruzen glared at the spot where Nazo vanished before he turns to look at Naruto, a soft worried expression on his face._ "The power of the Nine-Tailed Fox, full of anger and rage. The power of Dark Gaia, full of darkness. With both of these powers inside him, it makes me wonder…"_

Amy ran to Naruto and started to comfort him but he wouldn't budge as he was still in shock.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep inside Naruto's mind, a large cage is shown with a tag on it. However, red chakra, along with black energy with a neon blue glow to it, is shown coming out of the cage along with a deep rumbling noise.

"**Hehehe…how interesting."** A male voice chuckled in amusement at the events it learned. **"Interesting indeed." **A pair of glowing slitted red eyes opened up within the cage. **"Wouldn't you agree?"**

"_How much danger is Naruto in? Are we __**all**__ in?"_

A silhouette of a figure can be seen standing in front of the cage. It gave off an evil chuckle as glowing green eyes and sharp white fanged teeth are shown.

* * *

**Ending 2: Harmonia**

**Hey, can you hear me?**

A drawing of Tails, in his fox form, is seen, with his back turned to the audience. He turns back and smiles happily at the viewers.

**The sky is limitless and blue  
The sea is endlessly large  
To you, please remain smiling or else I'll cry**

Tails is flying in the Tornado. He waves to a bunch of birds as they waved back. He flew down just above the sea as the dolphins jumped out.

Naruto, Knuckles, Amy, Sasuke and Sakura appears for a moment before they vanished, making Tails cry out before he sneezed and he transformed into his human form.

**You don't have to look around now, because everyone are in these hands**

Pictures starts to rain down and Tails watches each one that pass. All the pictures had everyone on them: Rock Lee, Iruka, Hinata, Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai, Shikamaru, Naruto, Amy, Knuckles Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi.

**Wanting to cry, wanting to run  
If you forget happiness then sing  
Light was born and dark was born, the two is together  
Feeling harmonia, telepathy**

Tails, still in his human form, is walking around the woods, looking for everyone as the sun shine on him. A bunch of Animals soon followed and he began to happily lead them as though they were a marching band.

One by one the Animals began to leave Tails by himself. He looks in front of him and saw Naruto's back towards him.

A big smile appeared on his face as he ran to his best friend and jumped on his back, causing him to turn around in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. He turns around facing the viewers and looks at them.

**Hey, can you hear me?**

Naruto and Tails then gave the viewers two thumbs up.

* * *

**Author's Note:** That's it for this chapter. Like I said before when I made the announcement of my brother's death, way back when, the Naruto crossovers will _still_ happen and it won't be long till it does.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business there boy.

In my opinion, I thought that Dark Gaia was the greatest Sonic villain to have ever been created in the franchise's history. As it is a representation of night, darkness and destruction, you can't say it's not a perfect fit for it be in a Naruto story, like y'all know better than that. Hell I'll even say Dark Gaia should be in Kingdom Hearts game.

This will also be a chance for Naruto to _truly_ conquer his inner darkness (not hating on Dark Naruto). Because now that Dark Gaia's energy is inside him, Naruto is gonna have to learn how to control his darkness before it'll end up consuming him, and he'll lose himself to it. Unlike the video games where Sonic transforms at night, Naruto can transform during day or night, since obviously Dark Gaia hasn't woken up from its slumber..._yet_. If you guys want an example, think Dark Jak from the Jak and Daxter series or Anti-Form Sora. But if Naruto ever does transform at night, he'll only gain more increase in power.

There will also be hints in the fic when Naruto will tap into the Nine-Tails' chakra, he will also unknowingly be forced to tap into Dark Gaia's energy as well...so I'll just leave that to your imagination.

As for how the transformation works...obviously the Nine-Tails transformation will happen if Naruto taps into his chakra and the Dark Gaia form will happen if Naruto is _truly_ angry at someone to the point he wants to kill them or is under extreme stress, like Archie Sonic (R.I.P Freedom Fighters)

Well that's it. Hope you guys loved this remastered chapter.

Also, and I've been thinking about this a lot, but I think it's time for Naruto to have his own unique Summon other than a Toad. And the lucky animal? Hedgehogs!

Now before you guys say anything, I wanna remind you that after meeting Sonic, Shadow and Silver, Naruto _absolutely_ loves hedgehogs to the point where he would want one as a pet. Plus, I _never_ found any fics where Naruto has any hedgehog summons, so I want this to be the first fic where hedgehogs can be used as summons. If I'm too late with that, then it is what it is.

Plus, like I said, this will be Naruto's _own_ unique Summon. So he'll end up finding the Summoning Scroll before he meets with Jiraiya and signs one with the Toads.

So with all that said and done, see you all next chap


	17. Ultimate 16: Prelims (Part 2)

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

* * *

**Opening 2: Far Away [English Version]**

***Instruments***

Squad 7 is seen staring at the sunset with Blaze, Tails, Amy and Knuckles there with them.

Naruto turns around and grins as he tossed a Chaos Emerald at the viewers before the title appears on it:

**Naruto: Rise of the Ultimate Ninja**

**Let's hit the gas, it's time to go  
There is no need to hesitate no more**

**We are going on our way**

Naruto is on top of the Fourth Hokage's stone head as he looks up at the sky. Sonic, Shadow and Silver briefly appeared behind him, looking up as well, before they vanished.

Naruto had a surprised expression for a moment as he felt Tails jump on his shoulder. He looked back and saw Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke and Sakura behind him, looking at the two with smiles on their faces.

Naruto grins back at them.

**I might regret it it the end  
But I don't care how long we have to wait**

**We will live it day by day**

Images appear: One is Naruto is doing a pose from the Sonic Adventure 2 cover. The second is Tails waving happily to the readers. The third is Sasuke in an attack pose. The fourth is Sasuke and Sakura standing back-to-back. The last is Kakashi looking at the readers while reading his book.

The scene changes to show them standing in front of a camera. The camera flashes as Naruto and Tails appears in front of it, making goofy faces, much to Sasuke and Sakura's irritation while Kakashi looked at them.

The camera flashes again, this time showing Sakura punching Naruto upside the head, while Sasuke grabbed Tails by his twins and looked at him in annoyance, making Tails smile sheepishly.

The final shot is Squad 7 together, smiling.

**Open up your heart now**

**Pull your loved ones closer**

**Everything will be alright!**

Team Guy makes an appearance together, along with Squad 10 and Squad 8.

An artwork of Kabuto appears, smiling back at the viewers.

The Proctors of the Chunin Exams, Kurenai, Guy, Asuma and the Third Hokage appear.

Conquering Storm appears with her back turned and looking over her shoulder, a cold half-lidded expression on her face.

**I can promise you that…**

**Your feelings will get far~!**

**FAR~!**

Team Sand appears, before Kankuro and Temari disappear leaving Gaara by himself.

Naruto and Sasuke appear behind Gaara, in the background, as he motions his hands up, making sand cover the screen.

Naruto and Sasuke appear in a pitch black space. The camera moves to Sasuke as eyes, similar to a snake, appears above him.

***Instruments***

Naruto is lying down on the grass, staring up at the night sky. He sits up and his eyes widen as he saw Blaze, her back turned to him. Just as a black and purple mist, that has purple electricity, suddenly appears, she turns around and smiles at him. Just as Naruto reached out to her, she vanished within the mist.

He calls out to her before he gets consumed by the mist. Naruto screams as the mist enters his body before he snapped his eyes open, revealing that they are now slitted green.

**So hurry up now!**

**And let it all out!****  
**

Conquering Storm, Neji and Lee are seen in fighting stances. Gaara has his arms crossed.

Naruto and the Masked Boy are seen glaring down at each other.

**Though my legs might hurt**

**I know I'll make it far**

**'Cause I will fight 'till the end!  
**

Knuckles is on Angel Island looking at the sky as the wind blows past his face. Tails is looking up fearfully at a large cage

Sasuke attacks Zaku at the Preliminary Round.

Blaze attacks a Shinobi as she sent him flying and burning in pain.

Naruto appears, in Nine-Tails mode, as he gives a yell at the viewers.

**I'm getting closer!**

**I know I'll get there!**

Amy, Sakura and Ino are seen standing back-to-back with Cherry Blossoms falling in the background.

The left side of Orochimaru's face appears as Sasuke's silhouette is on the right and he's gaining purple marks on his neck.

Dr. Eggman Nega briefly appeared, grinning evilly as a screen appeared in the reflection of his glasses.

The right side of Nazo's face appears as Naruto's feral face appears on the other side, though his sclera is green and his skin begins to turn pale blue.

**No matter what the cost**

**If you are there I know**

**That I'll arrive!**

Back at the arena, Naruto falls back. He looks back up and glares at Nazo as he brought a "Bring it" motion with his hand.

**I'm going far away...**

Naruto's whole body suddenly gained a neon-blue aura coating his body. He gave out a yell and a blue flash appeared.

***Instruments***

Blaze is on top of the entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village. She stares out at the village, holding her Lucky Charm, before she jumps down and runs off to where Naruto is.

The camera backs away from Naruto's serious expression and shows Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, The Rookie Nine, Team Guy, Team Sand and Conquering Storm.

* * *

**Ultimate 16: Preliminary Rounds (Part 2)**

**Chapter Cover:** Naruto, Tails, Knuckles and Sasuke are playing a fighting video game with their game faces on. Blaze, Amy, Sakura and Kakashi were watching their antics nearby with deadpan expressions. On the character select screen were Neji, Hinata, Rock Lee, Gaara, Choji and Dosu.

* * *

After that intense battle with Nazo, Naruto didn't know how long he stared at his trembling hands, a shocked fearful look on his face. His thoughts kept racing all around his head about this new discovery he and everyone else learned.

Dark Gaia.

A demonic deity that's been living inside the planet's core since its creation. A manifestation of darkness, night and destruction. This thing has been around for eons, destroying the planet only to get defeated and sealed back into the planet's core until the next Time of Awakening, when it's gathered enough negative energy.

Now, a piece of that...that _Devil's_ energy is inside him!

"Nazo…" Naruto loudly growled as he started to tremble, not paying attention to the fact that black energy starts to form in one of his hands. Why!? Why did this happen to him!? First the damn Nine-Tails, now this!?

Nazo...who the hell is that guy!? How does he know him? Hell, how does he even know about Sonic, Shadow and Silver!? So many goddamn questions but no answers! And that so called war he was talking about!

He then thought back on Nazo's words before he left.

_"This world, along with the Hedgehogs' world, are but one of many that exists. And when this war begins, all those worlds...will collide._"

This world is one of many that exists? Will the world collide? Just what does it all mean?!

"**DAMN IT!"** Naruto roared as he punched the arena floor, making a fist shaped hole crater. He grit his teeth angrily as he was about to punch the floor again but got grabbed by Kakashi.

"Naruto, that's enough. Calm down!" Kakashi told him.

"Calm down!?" Naruto looked at his sensei in disbelief and anger. "I just found out that I have the energy of a _demon_ _god_ and you want me to _calm down_?!"

"Listen, I know you're angry..." Kakashi was about to say before he got interrupted.

"Angry?! I'm beyond angry!" Naruto yelled as he removed his hand from Kakashi. "Did you not hear what Nazo said? Dark Gaia has been around since the _beginning of time_! This thing grows stronger and stronger as it feeds off the negative energies of the planet! It's _eating_ our emotions for breakfast, lunch _and_ dinner! Now I have a piece of that thing inside my body!"

Despite Naruto's angry rant, Kakashi's lone eye narrowed as he saw something he had never seen in his student's eyes before.

Fear. There was fear in Naruto's eyes. No, the better term is _terrified_. And Kakashi doesn't blame him at all. To be honest, everyone here has many reasons to be scared of the being known as Dark Gaia. But Naruto is the most scared of them. He is scared that this monster's energy is inside him. Scared that he might end using that power again and lose control again like what happened a few days ago. And most of all, scared that he could end up _killing_ those close to him.

Everyone else didn't say anything as they continued to listen to Naruto.

"And then there's Nazo! Just who the hell is he!? How does he know so much about me? And what about this 'war' he was talking about? Why am I part of it? Why are _we_ a part of it?!" Naruto grips his head in anger and confusion. "I have so many questions and Nazo is the only one with the answers damnit!" He launched a weak Chaos Spear at the statue, which only left a burn mark.

But that didn't stop his already increasing anger as his face turned feral and purple static began to dance off his body while he let loose a feral growl. He felt someone touch his shoulder, making him look back to see Hiruzen, looking at him sternly yet with a concerned expression, especially seeing the snarl on Naruto's face.

"_Calm down_ Naruto. You have every right to be angry about what happened to you, but you can't lose control of your anger. Just look at your hand." Hiruzen told him.

Naruto looked down to see the black energy covering his hand, making him gasp fearfully as he shook it which thankfully made the darkness vanish. But that didn't stop his already trembling hands. The Ultimate Ninja saw someone else's hand touching his own. He looked up to see Amy, a worried look on her face.

Knuckles himself had a somewhat concerned look in his eyes, though his expression didn't show it.

Naruto's eyes widened as he slowly looks up at his friends...mainly Blaze, seeing the worried gaze she has on him, making him silently gasp before he looks down, his eyes shadowing over. "It's bad enough that I got to deal with one monster...now this?"

The Genin couldn't hear Naruto's whisper but the Jōnin there could hear him, along with Amy and Knuckles since they were close. The Leaf Jōnin flinched from the mention of the monster Naruto was talking about. Hiruzen frowned sadly at Naruto as did Kakashi.

Speaking of said monster, Naruto came down to a sudden realization that made him unconsciously grip his stomach, a fearful look on his face.

_"If I have Dark Gaia's energy...does that mean..."_

Naruto was too scared to finish his thought but he probably already knew. If he has Dark Gaia's energy than it's more than likely the Nine-Tails might also have this energy, and it's a monster completely made out of chakra! He doesn't even want to know what would have happened if he used its power.

_"I can't believe something like this has happened..." _Iruka thought to himself as he stared at Naruto. He grips the railing, making his knuckles turn white as he grits his teeth.

Not only is Sasuke suffering from the Curse Mark, but now Naruto is suffering because of this Dark Gaia monster's energy inside him. What was happening to his precious students? The Nine-Tails was bad enough, but now this and this war Nazo was talking about!?

_"Naruto…" _A younger Naruto appears in Iruka's mind, but he had a dead look in his eyes. _"Hasn't he suffered enough already?!"_

Hinata stared at her crush with a worried gaze. She couldn't believe what this Nazo person has done to him and about this Dark Gaia creature. Plus there was this...this war Nazo was talking about. She was scared, horrified, that Naruto is actually a part of it. She knew what war is like as she read and heard about it from the Academy and veteran Hyuga Clan members respectively.

To know that both Nazo and Naruto were going to fight in it, scared her...because Naruto...Naruto could _die_ in it! And she...she didn't want that to happen! Not without her telling him her feelings! What's worse...from the way Nazo said it, it sounds like the war might be happening soon. _Very_ soon.

Just the thought of losing Naruto in this war, never seeing his cheerful happy self again, made her tear up. "Oh...Naruto..." She whispered as a tear slid down her eye and she clenched her jacket tightly.

Kurenai stared at her student as she shed a tear, more than likely about what happened to Naruto and this war he's about to fight in. "Hinata..." She brought one arm around her and embraced her, before staring at Naruto worriedly._ "Dark Gaia...even more powerful than the Nine-Tails, and a creature that's been around before it's birth? What was he talking about? And what woman?"_

"..." Shino was silent as always but if you look closely, you can see the sweat dripping down his head.

"Unbelievable..." Shikamaru said, shaking his head as he tried to wrap around the events that just happened. "Just what the heck is going on here? It's like things are getting more and more crazier by the minute!"

"I'll say..." Ino agreed, trembling fearfully. "First Sasuke having that weird power, then Naruto transforming into that monster, now this Nazo creep and Dark Gaia? This keeps getting scarier!"

"Don't forget about this war Nazo talked about." Asuma said, taking a puff of his cigarette, staring at Naruto in concern. "Adding to the fact that Nazo and Naruto are going to be in it makes it scarier judging from the fight we just witnessed between them."

"Oh man..." Choji muttered fearfully, becoming scared of Naruto. He couldn't understand _why_ only Naruto of all people is in this war and not any of them. It just didn't make sense! They were still Genin for crying out loud!

"Guy-sensei..." Lee spoke softly. "Isn't there anything we can do to help our friend Naruto in this war?"

"That's something even though I don't know Lee." Guy said seriously. "War...it's a very scary thing. When we were young some of us fought in it and some genin couldn't handle the amount of deaths it caused, so they dropped out and became civilians." He turns to look at Naruto, seeing him not moving a muscle, most likely still in shock from what he learned. "If both Naruto and Nazo are going to be in it, then it tells us that there's at least some sort of...connection between them."

_"A connection?"_ Neji asked himself as he looked at Naruto with narrowed eyes, thoughts appearing in his head as he tried to come with what those connections are.

Judging from the interaction, it would seem like Nazo _knows_ Naruto, almost as if the two of them were friends or something. But Naruto doesn't seem to know Nazo as according to him, they seem to have fought at this Little Planet. Who exactly is this Nazo? What's his connection with Naruto Uzumaki?

"Damn, so that kid and Nazo guy are going to war huh?" Kankuro asked, smirking a little bit. "Glad I'm not in it."

"No kidding. I almost feel sorry for that kid." Temari nodded but then felt her hands shaking. "But still…Dark Gaia?" She and Kankuro looked towards their younger brother and saw he was staring directly at Naruto.

Storm didn't say anything. She just looked down at Naruto before closing her eyes. So now Uzumaki has a demonic energy of a deity no has heard from. A very small part of her feels sorry for him, but the other part not so much. To her that just meant, Uzumaki's power has increased further and she wants to see just how powerful he really is now.

"Why..." Sakura spoke up sadly. "Sasuke...Naruto...why did this have to happen to us?" Memories of her time with them came to her mind. "I...I just don't understand it! Everything was just going great again too with Naruto coming back! But now...Sasuke and the Curse Mark and now this? This is...this is too much!"

Tails was silent as he looked at his big brother figure sadly. To have all this happen to him and seeing him like that made him sad. He wants to go down and help him...but...he just doesn't know what to say or do. He looks up at Blaze, seeing that her eyes were focused on Naruto.

"Blaze...?" He called out to her softly.

Blaze didn't say anything as she continued to stare at Naruto. She jumps down, of course from the railing she melted, getting everyone's attention, except for Naruto. She walks up to her childhood friend till she was in front of him while Amy backed away, wanting to see what would happen.

"Naruto."

"..."

"Naruto Uzumaki, _look_ at me." Blaze said sternly.

"..." He couldn't. He just couldn't look at her even though he wanted to so much. If anything Naruto looked down further, unable to meet her eyes. He just didn't have it in him to face her, not after the bomb that was just dropped.

Blaze sighed to herself before she did the logical thing.

**Bonk!**

By punching him in the noggin...with a fiery fist.

"OW!" Naruto cried out comically as he rubbed the spot where Blaze hit him, making those around to blink or look surprised. "OW! OW! OW! What the hell-!?" He was about to tell Blaze off but stopped as she pulled him into a hug, making him gasp as a blush formed on his face. She released him staring right into his eyes.

"Naruto, it's okay to be afraid. Everyone here is afraid of what we learned, even me." Blaze told him. "But you can't let that fear or your anger cloud you, cause if you do, you'll only increase the chances of the darkness inside you to consume you."

Naruto flinched from that. "I...I know that! It's just...I'm…" He starts to tremble but stopped when Blaze put a hand to his cheek, making him look at her again.

"I know. You're scared that you might lose control like what happened and may end up fighting us again." Naruto's eyes moved down, a guilty expression. "However, you seem to have forgotten one thing."

"...?" Naruto gave her his attention.

"You're Naruto Uzumaki. The next Hokage of the Leaf Village aren't you?" Blaze asked with a smile on her face.

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at Blaze, his mouth open in surprise. She giggled slightly at his expression and continued what she had to say to him.

"Every Hokage, even Lords Third and Fourth, had to go through hardships to get to where they are now. No matter how difficult it was for them, they still kept going knowing that they'll overcome them, not just because they're strong." Blaze puts her hand down from Naruto's cheek and to his chest. "They have people there to help them through it. So don't let something like this get you down. You'll overcome this and we'll be there to help you, along with this war Nazo was talking about."

"..." Naruto stared at Blaze for a moment before he looked at Kakashi and Lord Third, seeing them both smile and nod their heads. He looks at Amy and Knuckles, seeing Amy smile lovingly at him while nodding her head while Knuckles turned away, but Naruto could see the small smile on his face.

He turns to Tails and Sakura, both of them smiling happily at him as they too nodded their heads. He even looks at Iruka, seeing him nod as well. "You guys…"

A smile slowly appears on Naruto's face before it turns into the famous Sonic grin. "Heh! That's right! I'm the world's ultimate ninja after all! Ain't no _way_ I'm going to let this slow _me_ down! Especially when I'm at the top of my game! If I'm ever in a pickle I can always count on you guys to get me out of it, right?"

That instantly made smiles appear.

"Yeah!" Tails cheered as he flew down to till he was in front of Naruto's face. "You know I'll always be there for ya!" The duo did a double high five.

"Me too!" Amy instantly wrapped her arms around Naruto's.

"And so will we." Hiruzen smiled.

"You know it." Kakashi agreed.

Naruto smiled softly at them before he turned to Blaze, his cheeks reddening softly. "Thanks Blaze. I needed that." Blaze smiled and nodded her head. He suddenly felt intense pain in his arm. "Gah!? A-Amy!?" He looked down at her before he turned white as those ghosts from the Sandopolis.

Amy was smiling, a bright and chipper smile. Only problem was that her upper face was completely shadowed over and her eyes had...a scary dark look in them.

"Naruto, who is _she_?" Amy asked, leaning a _little_ too closely to Naruto's face as her face darkened further, making him sweat nervously.

"Yes, I'm curious as well." Blaze spoke up, glaring at Naruto with a half lidded stare, making him stare at her with a comical shocked look on his face. "Aren't you going to introduce _us_?"

Naruto began to sweat bullets as both Amy and Blaze gazed at him, waiting for him to explain who they were. "W-Well...um…" He turned to look at Kakashi for help but saw that he and Lord Third had already got up on the platform. He turned to Tails and Knuckles and saw they were up there too. He sent a comical betrayed expression to them._ "WHY?!"_

They all looked sheepish except for Knuckles who was grinning mockingly at him.

"Well? We're waiting." Blaze said, crossing her arms.

Naruto gulps nervously, eyes darting around frantically as he tried to think of a way out the situation he was in. "Oh! Right! Well...you see…"

"Um, hate to interrupt you ***cough*** but we still have to continue." Hayate said, raising his hand.

"Right! Gotcha! Amy, this is Blaze, my best friend from childhood. Blaze, this is Amy, the girl I mentioned when I was on Little Planet!" Naruto said as he used his telekinesis to grab them and flew up the platform.

"Due to the interruption and sudden arrival of the unknown shinobi Nazo and his battle against Naruto Uzumaki, I guess Naruto automatically wins and advances. We will be taking a 5 minute break."

Most of the Genin looked surprised from that but didn't say anything.

"5 minutes, huh?" Naruto asked, cracking his neck. "Gives me some time to heal." He flinched when Knuckles punched his arm. "Ow! Hey!" He glared at him.

"So are you gonna tell me where I am or do I have to guess?" Knuckles asked Naruto before looking around. "And what's up with this stadium?"

"You are in the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Hiruzen answered, getting Knuckles', along with Amy's, attention. "My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, I'm the Hokage, the leader of this village. It's nice to meet you both, Knuckles and Ms. Rose."

Knuckles and Amy looked surprised to see a leader actually here in this arena watching the fights and that he knows who they are. Amy smiled happily, already knowing that Naruto no doubt told him about her. She did a polite ladylike bow.

"It's nice to meet you as well Mr. Hiruzen. My name is Amy Rose. Please just call me Amy."

"Ok gramps, how do you know my name?" Knuckles asked rather rudely, which earned some slight glares from the older Leaf shinobi.

Hiruzen however smiled, looking deep into Knuckles' purple eyes. In a way, he was definitely a spitting image of Naruto. "Why Naruto told us all about you and Amy when he came back to the village a little while ago."

"...what?" Knuckles twitched his eyebrows and glared at the sheepish looking Naruto. "Are you serious!?"

"Yup. Welcome to my turf Knucklehead." Naruto chuckled. "And relax, you can trust him. He _is_ the Hokage after all." He leaned into Knuckles' ear, a cheshire cat like grin on his face. "But he's also a pervert who reads smut like my-AAAAAAHHHH! HOT! HOT! I'M ON FIRE!"

Knuckles' eyes widen. Not from the fact that Naruto is getting burned alive right now since he doesn't really care about that and enjoyed it a little bit, but from the little information about the Hokage reading dirty books. It made him blush slightly as he stared at Hiruzen, who only tilted his hat down to cover his face.

Everyone else was seeing a screaming Naruto being burnt alive comically by Blaze, with shocked expressions. Seeing how he had enough of her punishment, the Fire Princess snapped her fingers and the fire dispersed, leaving a comically burnt Naruto as he coughed out smoke and fell back.

Hiruzen sighed tiredly and rubbed the bridge of his forehead. "Thank you Blaze." Blaze nodded while she continued to glare at Naruto.

Knuckles stared at the burnt Naruto before he sighed in annoyance and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well that's just great. I'm in a ninja village." He turns to walk away. "I better hurry up and return to the-!"

"Hold up a sec Knux!" Naruto shot back up and wrapped his arms around the guardian, while shaking the dirt off him. "Okay, so you were brought here against your will by Nazo. And yeah, he no doubt kicked your ass, which I'm a teeny tiny wittle bit disappointed that I missed because it would've been funny-."

"Get to the point!" Knuckles growled.

"The point is, he came to the island just for you and you alone, not the Master Emerald. That means it's no doubt safe and sound, so there's no reason for you to just rush off back home." Naruto told him, smiling slightly. "You should take this chance to hang out with us instead, get to see more of this huge world!"

"..."

Outwardly, Knuckles looked at Naruto with a half-lidded glare while he continued to smile happily. But inwardly, he was surprised at his suggestion and was tempted to take the offer. He sighed and shook his head, removing Naruto's arm off of him. No, he just couldn't. He has a duty to fulfill and that duty is to protect the Master Emerald at all cost.

"Look, as much as I want to stay I can't." Naruto and everyone else blinked at Knuckles. He turns to walk off the platform. "You and Tails already know that I have to protect the Master Emerald from anything or anyone that could harm it. It is my-"

"Nope!"

Knuckles gasped as he found himself covered in a cyan aura. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" He yells comically at Naruto, who smiled happily.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"** Naruto summons a clone. "Go to Angel Island and watch the Master Emerald until Mr. Stick in the Mud over here is finished with his mini vacation."

"Got it Boss." The Clone said as he teleported in a blue flash.

Naruto gave a satisfied nod and turned to Knuckles, releasing him from his ESP and making him glare. He crossed his arms and sent him a deadpan look. "Listen Chuckles, you've been living on that flying island by yourself, guarding that emerald. Meaning aside from me, Tails _and_ Eggman, you've never met anyone else outside and don't even know what the world is like."

The Leaf Genin, not including Sakura as she knows about Knuckles' situation, were surprised to hear that.

Naruto grins happily. "So as your new best friend, I'm gonna let you have a nice week long vacation here in the Hidden Leaf Village, whether you like it or not."

Knuckles' mouth opened in shock as he stared at Naruto comically as though he was an idiot. He heard some giggles, making him turn and saw everyone looking at the two with smirks or smiles on their faces.

"Don't bother fighting it Knuckles." Kakashi told him, eye smiling at him. "When Naruto says something, he'll definitely make it happen. And from what Naruto told us about you, you kind of earn it."

"He's also a stubborn idiot." Blaze added in with a teasing smirk.

Iruka nodded in agreement before he decided to leave and head back to the academy, knowing that everything's okay now.

Knuckles stared at them before moving to Naruto, who rubbed his head sheepishly, back and forth. He rubbed his head and once again sighed in annoyance. "Fine. Whatever, I'll stay. For a _week_!" He turns his head away. "And we're not friends, let alone best friends!"

"Sweet! I'll take you to the greatest spots in the village! And of course we're friends buddy! Don't be shy about it." Naruto laughed.

"I ain't shy!" Knuckles comically roared with a large vein on his head.

"Sure you're not~" Naruto cheekily said, slapping Knuckles' back, only to flinch suddenly as he held his left arm. He could also feel his legs trembling slightly, causing him to fall on the platform which worried everyone.

"Are you okay pal?" Tails asked worriedly.

"Yeah. Just a little bit sore." Naruto said, rubbing his left arm softly. The same arm that he used to create the Chaos Spear to clash with Nazo's weird jutsu. He could see his left arm is trembling, possibly from thinking about it. _"Man, the hell was that jutsu?"_

Hiruzen frowned as he stared at the trembling arm and legs as his friends helped him up. Staring at the trembling legs told him that Naruto wasn't used to moving that fast at the level of speed he was in despite his incredible skills with it. His body needs to be more properly conditioned so that he won't have to go through this again.

As for the arm it's still feeling the after-effects of the Rasengan after clashing it with the Chaos Spear.

"_Nazo...where on earth did he learn that technique?" _

There were only three people in this world that knew Rasengan. Minato is dead and Kakashi obviously didn't teach it since he hasn't used it in a long time.

So that only leaves…

"_No. Even if it's __**him**__, he wouldn't be foolish enough to teach someone his student's personal jutsu."_ Hiruzen thought, eyes narrowed. _"Nazo. Who on earth are you? How do you know about Rasengan? What is your connection to Naruto? And why are you two going to fight in a war?"_

"Are you sure you're okay?" Amy asked in a concerned tone making Naruto nod.

"Yeah. I'm cool." The ultimate ninja replied as Blaze helped him back up on his feet.

Hinata looks at Naruto, seeing him flinch from the pain he sustained from Nazo. She looks down at the medicine in her hand before looking up at Naruto, seeing Amy crowding him. With a new resolve, she nods to herself and walks up to Naruto.

"U-Um!" She caught everyone's attention, especially Naruto, which made her blush.

"Hey Hinata. What's up?" Naruto greeted her, ignoring the pout Amy was giving him. Instead of answering, Hinata held her hands out, showing him the medicine she was holding.

Kurenai seeing this smirks slightly at her student. _"Hinata? Well, well." _Seems that Hinata is starting to get bold. It must be because of the competition.

"Hm? What's this?" Naruto asked.

"It's healing ointment." Kurenai answered.

"Healing ointment?" Naruto asked, looking at the ointment before looking at Hinata in surprise. "Is this for me?"

Hinata looks down but has a heated blush across her face. Eventually she nodded her head which made Naruto go wide eyed before he grins happily.

"Way past cool!" The ultimate ninja gently took the medicine out of her hands. "Thanks a lot Hinata. You rock!"

"O-Oh! You're welcome Naruto." Hinata said shyly as she turned away, trying to hide her burning face and the wide smile that appeared,

Naruto blinks in confusion from that as he turned to Kurenai, only to see her nod in approval at the action while trying to hide a smirk. He turns to Tails and Knuckles, with a raised brow, and they shrugged.

"Well, thanks again Hinata I owe ya." Naruto walked away to join Kakashi and Sakura with Tails and Knuckles following after him.

Blaze followed as well, but not before glancing at Hinata out of the corner of her eyes. Amy, however, was glaring at Hinata with fire in her eyes.

"Hmph!" She huffed as she walked past her and went to join Naruto.

"Anyway!" Naruto said happily as he started to use the medicine on his scars. "Knuckles, Amy, I want you guys to meet one of the greatest teachers I have ever met and the one most famous ninja in the Book!" He points at Kakashi. "Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan Eye!"

"Yo." Kakashi greeted them with a two finger salute.

"Sharing-what now?" Knuckles asked. "And what book are you talking about?"

"The Bingo Book, duh." Naruto replied making the redhead guardian send him a deadpan look.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Kakashi." Amy bowed, causing Kakashi to rub his head sheepishly.

"Hey, hey, none of that 'Mr' stuff. Just call me Kakashi."

"Or Kakashi-sensei!" Tails added in happily which made Kakashi laugh sheepishly.

"And this is one of my teammates, Sakura." Naruto held his hand towards her.

"..."

"Sakura?" Naruto turns to her and blinked in confusion.

Right now, Sakura was staring at Amy with a dumbfounded expression as Amy did the same thing. They looked each other up and down before slowly raising a hand up. They instantly put their hands down. They tilt their heads in the same direction before moving it back in place.

Everyone near them was looking back and forth between the two as they continued to copy what they were doing, more than likely because of the resemblance between them. Pink hair, red dress, red headband, and their love for...certain people.

"Um…" Amy and Sakura started to say but stopped as though they were waiting for one to start. "Hello?"

Everyone near them sweat drops.

"M-My name is Amy Rose." Amy introduced herself.

"Y-Yeah. I'm Sakura. Sakura Haruno, n-nice to meet you...?" Sakura said in an uncertain tone.

Nearby Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were looking at the two girls in confusion. Choji soon turns to Ino in complete confusion.

"Hey, did Sakura ever mention anything about having a twin?" The Akimichi Heir asked curiously.

Ino stared at him with a raised brow. "Are you kidding? I've been to her house plenty of times when we were kids and I've never seen her in any family pictures. So if she did have a twin, I would've known about it."

"They gotta be related in some way." Shikamaru said uncaring. "Aside from their appearance, the only difference is that one obviously likes Naruto and the other likes Sasuke. It's a total drag that we have to deal with another Sakura."

Ino nodded her head and looked at the two, seeing that they're trying to not make things awkward around them. There's no doubt in her mind that the two bore a striking resemblance to each other, they would be confused as twin sisters. But like Shikamaru said, Amy likes Naruto while she and Miss Forehead like Sasuke.

Plus...and she _really_ hated to admit it, but Amy also has a...slightly bigger chest than every girl in their age group. She touched her chest before she pouts in annoyance.

But then her eyes slowly moved towards Knuckles, who leaned on the wall, and she found herself staring at him with a heated blush on her face as she saw hearts floating around him. First was his stern handsome face, which, from what she heard earlier, showed that he considered himself to be a loner, like Sasuke and takes his job very seriously. Then her eyes traveled downwards to look at his rock hard abs.

Out of all the boys in the village, Knuckles and Naruto are the only ones in their age group to have such muscles on their bodies. While Naruto's muscles were lean and athletic, Knuckles looked like he was toned to the point where you can obviously see it.

"_Oh...my gosh! He's sooo hot!"_ Ino thought as she continued to stare at him.

"Hm?" Knuckles felt someone's eyes on him. He turns his head and looks to Ino. Her whole face turned red from embarrassment at being caught before she hid herself between her sensei and the boys, who looked confused until they realized who she was staring at. She peeks out to stare at him before hiding back, her blush increasing. He raised a brow at the girl's odd behavior but shrugged it off and turned his attention to the pink headed girls.

"So yeah." Naruto spoke, getting Amy and Knuckles' attention. "My other teammate is Sasuke, though he's resting right now. You may like him or you may hate him, it's up to you. I'll introduce the others later when this is over and done with."

Knuckles raised a brow while Amy nodded happily.

"By the way." Naruto turns to Amy curiously. "What was so important that you had to come from wherever you were to come here?"

"What do you mean?" Amy asked as she happily hugged her Destined Hero, making Blaze's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I came here to see you again silly!" She released him and pulled something out from behind her dress. "Plus I came to give you this."

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw a green Chaos Emerald in her hand.

"Whoa!" Naruto stepped back in surprise as his hair spiked upwards for a moment. "A Chaos Emerald?!"

"Oh?" Kakashi leaned in to get a closer look, an interesting and fascinating look in his eye. "So _that's_ a Chaos Emerald."

"Wow, it's so pretty." Sakura said as her eyes sparkled in awe at the emerald's glow.

"Where did you find it?" Tails asked, staring at the emerald with widened eyes.

"I found it when I was trying to find my way to the Hidden Leaf Village." Amy said, handing Naruto the emerald. She frowned. "But then that jerk Nazo just up and attacked me! He even destroyed my precious car!"

"A car? What's a car?" Sakura asked curiously.

Amy stared at Sakura with a stunned expression, making her uncomfortable. "You...don't know what a car is?" She asked as her fellow pink haired friend shook her head. She turns to Kakashi and he shrugged in response.

"Hey, I don't know what it is either. First time I'm hearing about it."

Knuckles blinks as he stared at Kakashi and Sakura as though they were idiots. How the hell do these people not know what a car is? Hell even though he's lived on an island he knows what it is.

Naruto quickly went by Amy's ear and covered his mouth so that only she could hear his whisper. "Amy, we live on a continent ruled by shinobi with minimal technology."

Tails nods in agreement as he whispered to Amy's other ear. "That's right. Nobody here or anywhere in the Shinobi Nations knows what a car is. Besides, the Nations don't have any streets. The shinobi relies on walking or running to reach their destinations."

"Oh! Got it." Amy nodded her head in understanding. She turns to Sakura. "Well don't worry about it Sakura. I'll tell you all about it later."

"Okay." Sakura said.

Blaze sighed to herself but then smiled softly in a somewhat proud manner as she watched the interaction between Naruto and everyone. To think that in all these years in their time apart, he had gained so many friends.

When she heard about Naruto's violent behavior from Lord Third, she became shocked to the core to hear that he had attacked many people who talked about her or tried to take away his lucky charm. She was also worried because the shinobi may have done some harm to him in his feral state, but was impressed to find out that he actually managed to take them down and even sent them to the hospital.

She had no idea that she drove such an impact on Naruto's life to the point where he would violently attack someone just because they were talking ill about her or because they took his lucky charm. But then again, he himself made an impact on her life as well. So of course she would no doubt react the same way he did.

"Hey Blaze!" Naruto called out to her, getting her attention. He happily showed her the Chaos Emerald. "See? This is one of the seven Chaos Emeralds I was talking about." He gained a thoughtful look as he leaned to her. "So? Does your...you-know-what look like this?"

Blaze shook her head at the whispered question. "No. The Chaos Emeralds are brilliant cut while mine are emerald cut." She took the emerald out of his hands and examined it. "It's weird. I know it's my first time seeing it, but I feel like...I've seen this before. Almost like..."

"Like déjà vu." Naruto finished, getting Blaze's attention. "Trust me. Ever since I met Dr. Nega, Tails, Amy and Knuckles I've been feeling it all the time."

"Right." Blaze said, looking at the emerald once more. The energy of this Chaos Emerald is so similar to the Sol Emeralds that it's scary. And she should know because she's been near the Sol Emeralds since her birth so she can easily since their energy.

But this Chaos Emerald...why did she feel like she's seen it ? She has never seen it and didn't even know that they existed until Naruto told her about them in his stories.

Now holding it in her hand, she knows and feels that she's seen this emerald. But when though?

Blaze shook her head and handed the emerald back to Naruto, who was staring at her in confusion because of that concentrated look on her face. The ultimate ninja was gonna ask her what was wrong but was interrupted.

"AHEM!" Hayate coughed as he got everyone's attention. "The five minute break is over, now we can announce the next match-up."

"Sweet!" Naruto grins as the emerald vanished within his being.

Everyone turned their attention to the screen as multiple names began flashing on it. Eventually the names stopped.

**Hinata Hyuga **

**Vs.**

**Neji Hyuga**

Hinata's eyes widened in shock and fear as she stared up at the screen. Neji's eyes were narrowed as a glint appeared in them. They both walked down to the arena and stared at one another.

"_Hinata…"_ Kurenai thought worriedly as she could see her student nervous.

"_What an interesting match-up..."_ Hiruzen thought.

"..." Guy was silent as he stared at Neji.

"I never thought I would be facing you, Hinata." Neji said coldly.

"Nor I, brother…" Hinata said.

"Hold on, what did she call him?!" Sakura asked in a surprised tone.

"_Brother_? These two are siblings?" Naruto asked, looking between them.

"Well, they do have the same last name." Knuckles said, walking up to the railing. Now that this break is over, he can see what these ninjas are capable of, especially since their around his age. "So of course they're siblings...or something. But who exactly are they?"

"They are members of the Leaf's oldest and greatest bloodline. The Hyuga Clan. But they aren't brother and sister." Kakashi explained.

"Whoa, really?" Tails asked. "Their clan is that old?"

"Then what are they?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe they're cousins?" Amy suggested.

"Well...they are members of the Hyuga Clan's Main House and Branch House. So Amy's right about them being cousins." Kakashi nodded towards her as she giggled.

"Main House and Branch House?" Tails asked, looking at Kakashi.

"What does that mean?" Knuckles asked as well, now wanting to know more about this old clan.

"It means that Hinata belongs to the family's Main House, directly descended by the clan head." Rock Lee explained as though he was a teacher. "While Neji's family is just a side branch of the clan."

"Wow, two family members fighting each other?" Tails asked. "That might make things difficult."

"Yeah I can't help but feel for them." Sakura said.

Blaze narrowed her eyes at Neji. Something told her that Neji must have something against Hinata. "Rock Lee, can you explain why Neji seems...hostile to Hinata?"

"Well..." Lee started, looking down at Neji. "It's because…"

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"Many things have happened between the two houses over the years." Lee explained. "And right now they don't get along very well." His response made everyone look surprised, except for Naruto, who continued to watch the two Hyuga members with a narrowed gaze.

"Why?" Knuckles asked. "What exactly happened between them?"

"This is normal with old houses but…" Lee started as he turned to everyone. "In order to protect the blood and house of the original Hyuga family, many rules have been established to out the main family in an advantageous situation...because of this the Branch Houses feel slighted."

"In other words…" Blaze started slowly, looking down at the two. "The two houses hate each other."

"But wait a second…" Tails said as he recalls what Hinata did for Naruto at the first part of the exams. "Hinata doesn't look like the type of person to hate someone, especially if they're her family."

"Tails is right." Naruto spoke up in a serious tone, getting everyone's attention. "I can see the anger in Neji's eyes right now and it's directed at Hinata. Something _definitely_ happened between these houses a long time ago. Because in Neji's point of view, this is something personal, especially since Hinata's dad is the clan head."

"Something personal?" Amy asked in a worried tone as Naruto nodded.

"You may begin the match!" Hayate declared.

"Before we begin this fight, I'd like to say something. Hinata, a word of advice." Neji said, getting Hinata's attention. "Withdrawal now! You know you were never meant to be a ninja."

Hinata gasped as her eyes widened while Naruto's eyes narrowed

"You are gentle. You seek harmony and avoid conflict. You agree with others without resisting." Neji continued, which made Hinata look down sadly. "Admit it. You have no confidence. You feel inferior to everyone else here. It would've been better if you simply remained a Genin. But to register for the Chunin Exams, you need a team of three people." Neji glared at Hinata. "You never even wanted to take part in these exams, but Shino and Kiba did and you couldn't bear to let your teammates down."

"No! You're wrong," Hinata told him. "I wanted...I had to find out...to see if I could change."

That immediately caught certain people's attention, mainly Naruto, Sakura, Tails, Kakashi, Blaze, Amy, Knuckles, Shino and Kurenai.

"_Hinata."_ The black hair beauty thought.

* * *

***Flashback***

**Hyuga Clan Residence**

Kurenai stood in the same room as Hiashi Hyuga and his youngest daughter Hanabi as she was on all fours panting.

"I will be watching over Hinata from now on." Kurenai told the clan head. "Are you sure it's alright? Hinata is a member of the Hyuga Main Family and heir to your household. Working as a Genin may cause her to be surrounded by death."

"Do what you will." Hiashi told her, making her gasp. "She is less worthy than her sister, 5 years her junior." He turns to Kurenai slightly. "The Hyuga Clan has no need for such an heir."

Kurenai's eyes widened from shock after hearing what Hinata's father had said to her. She turned to Hanabi and saw the bruise marks on her person, along with some blood on the floor.

"If that is all, leave us." Hiashi told her. "We have work to do."

"Alright." Kurenai turns to walk away but stops and gasp slightly. Hinata was there looking down sadly.

***Flashback End***

* * *

"_Hinata has struggled to become what she wanted to be."_ Kurenai thought to herself.

Neji glared at Hinata as she looked down to the floor. "Hinata, you are the pampered offspring of the Main Hyuga Branch."

"W-What?" Hinata asked.

"People cannot change no matter how hard they try." Neji told her. Hinata gasped out as she stared at her cousin with fearful eyes. "They can't run away from their true nature. A failure will always be a failure."

"What the hell is this guy's problem?" Knuckles growled as he clenched his fists. Why the hell was this loser talking to his own little cousin like that? That's not how family is supposed to be!

"How could he say something like that to his own family?" Amy asked with a shocked look on her face. Families were supposed to love and support each other and not talk bad about them.

"_Hinata...she looks like she's close to breaking."_ Blaze thought as she glared at Neji in anger. How dare this fool say such things to his younger cousin.

"That Neji is being a total jerk to her!" Tails glared at Neji. "We should do something about him, right Naruto?" He received no answer. "Naruto?" He turns to his best friend and saw he was glaring heavily at Neji as his eyes were narrowed.

"People are judged by their true nature. It is the way of the world. That is why we have elites and we have outcasts." Hinata trembled from Neji's words but he still kept going. "We can change our physical appearance, improve our skills with training and studying. But ultimately we are judged by what we cannot change. What can't be changed must be endured. We are who we are Hinata and that is why we must live with it."

Naruto's hair began to move slightly as he began to grit his teeth. Memories of Zabuza and Haku flashing through his head, even Shadow appeared as well.

"Just as I must live with the fact that you were born in the elite of our clan while I am from a lesser branch." Neji said.

"_Shut up."_ Naruto thought, glaring at Neji.

"I understand these things because I see the world clearly, with my **Byakugan**." Neji continued. "Despite your brave words, what you're really thinking is that you like to run. Run as far away from here as you."

"No! You're wrong! You're wrong about me!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Shut...the hell…up." Naruto whispered in a soft low voice which barely anyone could hear.

"Byakugan?" Sakura asked, turning to Kakashi, along with everyone else near him except for Naruto who was glaring holes into Neji's head.

"They say that the Uchiha Clan's origins are like with the Hyuga Clan. The Byakugan is one of the advanced kekkei genkai or bloodline abilities passed down in the Hyuga Clan." Kakashi explained. "It's an ability similar to the Sharingan, which is deprived from the Byakugan. But in terms of inside, the Byakugan is more powerful than the two."

"That sounds awesome." Tails said in awe.

Naruto released a silent feral growl at Neji when he saw Hinata's trembling form and scared expression. He and everyone couldn't see it but Neji had activated the Byakugan.

Hinata herself trembled horribly as she stared into the glaring eyes of her cousin's Byakugan. She slightly looked upwards to avoid looking into them before she looked down once more placing a finger to her lips.

"You can't fool my eyes."

Hinata looked shocked from what Neji said, bringing her attention to him.

"Against my pressure just now...you avert your eyes to the upper left. This a sign that you are remembering your past experiences, your painful past. And after that you looked to the lower right. That is a sign that you are imagining physical and mental pain. You are thinking about yourself...and from all the experience until now you are imagining the results of this match. Imagine...that you'll lose!"

"Shut up…!"

The spines of Naruto's hair began to float upwards gathering everyone near him his attention. They looked shocked at first, thinking that he might start to transform into his dark form, but they were surprised when they saw the red stripes in his hair glowing crimson slightly along with his hair. They saw his hand gripping the rail extra tightly but they could clearly see it's starting to bend at an odd angle and they saw smoke rising.

"N...Naruto?" Amy tried to approach him but was held back by Kakashi and Blaze.

"_This is something new."_ Kakashi said to himself as he watched one of his student's hair starting to turn red as well but it kept flashing on and off. This isn't the Nine-Tails' doing so that's out, and it definitely wasn't Dark Gaia. So what was happening now?

"_The Chaos Emerald...did it unlock a new power within Naruto?"_ Blaze asked herself. It certainly did make sense. Because it looks like Naruto is starting to enter a whole new form and he doesn't even realize it.

And right now Neji is the one triggering this transformation because of what he's saying to Hinata which Naruto doesn't like at all.

"The action of raising your arms in front of your body…" Neji listed off. "That shows that you are trying to create a wall between us, create a distance from me...that you are trying to prevent me from figuring out how you are truly feeling. Because everything I said has been totally right."

Hinata still remained rooted in her spot as tears began to gather in her eyes, making Naruto reach his boiling point as his eyes began to flash from glowing red to blue. There was also a red faint aura surrounding his being. He ripped the rail off of its stand and was gripping very tightly.

"Hey, uh, I think we better step back." Kakashi told everyone as they stepped from the glowing red Naruto. Judging from the way he's trembling right now and how hard he was holding a piece of the railing, it's safe to say that Naruto might try and do something rash at Neji.

"Furthermore…" Neji still kept going as Naruto began to scowl angrily. "Touching your lip is a personality trait revealing a disturbance. It's a defense mechanism to soften the nervousness and worrying. So basically...in reality...you realized it haven't you? That you cannot change your…"

"ENOUGH!" Naruto's roar echoed out as he threw the rail at the stone statue finger, making it go through it and stuck itself on the wall behind it. The action and roar caught everyone's attention and they looked surprised to see his hair floating.

Neji turnt his Byakugan off as he turned to look at Naruto over his shoulder while Hinata looked up at him in shock. Her eyes widened as she saw his hair floating upwards and it seemed to be glowing red.

"Hinata, don't you dare listen to a goddamn thing that comes out of this guy's mouth!" Naruto turns to Neji and glares at him. "And you! _Who the hell_ gave you the right to decide who Hinata can or can't be? This is her life so she can live it however she wants to! And if you ask me, she has changed! You're just too damn blind to see it!"

Hinata's eyes widened from Naruto's declaration but he didn't stop.

"Ever since we were at the Academy, I've been seeing Hinata train by _herself_ from time to time! And guess what? No matter how much she hurt herself or how much pain she was in, she still got back up and kept going! Back then, I didn't know about it because I was a stupid kid, hell I'm still stupid that I can admit it! But now, I know that deep down inside Hinata is a lion that is waiting to come out!" Naruto exclaimed, making Hinata gasp out loud and everyone looked surprised at Naruto's words, especially Kurenai and Shino, while Neji just looked on.

"But guys like you just keep dragging her down, keeping her from reaching her full potential! That's the _real_ reason why she joined the Chūnin Exam! To unleash that potential within her, just like the rest of us here! But here you are trying to scare her away with your words? That's something cowards would do."

That made Neji narrowed his eyes at Naruto, who turned and gave Hinata a happy grin. "Come on Hinata! Don't hold back! Show this guy what you're made of!"

Hinata had a stunned look present on her face as she stared up at Naruto's smiling face with eyes full of wonder. "Naruto…" Her lips trembled as she looked down hiding her face from view not letting everyone see the smile that was present on her along with the increasing blush.

That was...that was the first time anyone has ever said something like that about her. What's more it came from Naruto's own lips, which made her heart soar. Because he was right. She knew that somewhere deep down she had potential that lies dormant within her. But she hasn't reached that potential due to her gentle nature.

While true that Kurenai-sensei believed in her potential and has been helping her release it, even though she always gives up. But to hear that Naruto not only has been seeing her train by herself, he also believed in her potential and said that she changed because of it...

"_Naruto…"_

"_God he's annoying…"_ Neji thought. He turned to look at Hinata and looked surprised for a moment as he saw a determined look on her face.

"_Thank you…!"_ Hinata thought.

Naruto seeing the determined look on Hinata's face, grins softly as his hair stopped floating. "Heh! Atta girl."

"_...her eyes have changed."_ Neji said to himself. "Fine then. I won't be responsible for what happens."

Hinata closed her eyes as veins pulsed around them. Her thoughts went back to what Naruto said on the first day of the exams and she repeated what he said.

_"I won't quit...I won't run away..."_

_"I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja."_ Naruto's voice said as his smirking expression appeared in her head.

"I won't...run away!" Hinata opens her eyes to show her Byakugan activated, which caught everyone's attention and Naruto's smirk grows bigger. "Defend yourself…" She took the Hyuga Style fighting stance. "My brother."

"...Fine." Neji took a similar stance.

"...I thought so." Lee spoke up, getting everyone's attention.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"She uses the same Hyuga Style...her stance is similar to Neji." Lee replied.

"Hyuga Style?" Amy and Sakura asked at the same time, making them glance at each other.

"What is this Hyuga Style?" Knuckles asked.

"The Leaf's strongest taijutsu style." Lee said his fist clenched and body trembling.

"Huh? The strongest?" Tails asked in surprise. He didn't know that the Leaf had strong fighting styles.

"I said it before...the 'strongest genin on my team'...that's him. Neji Hyuga." Lee replied.

Hinata and Neji soon charged at each other and began their assault against each other, both of them blocking or dodging each other's strikes as bursts of chakra erupts from them.

Naruto watched the match intently, his eyes focused intently on Hinata as he watched her dodging and blocking Neji's attack. He grins as he saw Hinata's strike graze Neji's shirt.

"Yes! She almost had him." Naruto said.

"What do you mean 'almost'?" Knuckles asked, crossing his arms. "It looked like she slightly touched him."

"A slight touch is still enough. That's what makes the Hyuga Clan so great." Lee told the redhead.

"How do you mean?" Blaze asked curiously.

"The Hyuga Clan have a special fighting style that's been passed down for generations." Guy answered this time.

While everyone was listening to Guy's explanation, Naruto was still focused on the match, though he was slightly listening to Guy's explanation.

After all, he doesn't know much about the Hyuga Clan, so if there's a chance he might fight against Hinata or Neji in the final round, he'll have to learn about their fighting styles and everything.

The Ultimate Ninja then noticed the conversation turned to talking about chakra coils in the body, which Tails asked about since he didn't know about them. Apparently, the Hyuga's Byakugan allows them to see someone's inner chakra coils and they strike the pressure points to damage the chakra coils.

_"Heh. So avoid their strikes and make sure they don't hit my inner chakra. Got it."_ Naruto thought to himself. His eyes widened as he saw the two Hyuga members attack at the same time, making his eyes narrow.

"What happened?! Did she get him?" Tails asked.

"No." Naruto grit his teeth. "_He_ got her."

Tails, Sakura and Amy's eyes widened in shock when they saw Hinata had coughed out blood. Knuckles and Blaze's eyes were narrowed and Naruto glared at Neji.

"So this is it…" Neji spoke up. "The extent of the Main House's strength."

_"Not yet!"_ Hinata tried to strike him again only for Neji to strike her arm and hold her in place. He rolled the sleeves up to reveal red dots on her arm.

The Hyuga Heiress looked surprised. "No way...then from the beginning…"

"Exactly. My eyes can even see the 'opening points'." Neji told her.

"Opening what?" Knuckles asked.

"Above the 'inner coils system' are 361 pressure points called chakra holes." Kakashi explained. "They are the size of the tip of a needle. They are also called 'opening points' and if you press them accurately you can stop or increase your opponent's flow."

"Hmm...so does that mean you can see it Kakashi-sensei? With your sharingan?" Tails asked though Kakashi shook his head.

"No. My sharingan can't see them. Even with the ability to use it effectively in a battle." The teens stared at Kakashi after he finished his explanation, though Naruto watched on as Neji pushed Hinata back.

"This is the difference in talent that can never change Hinata. One that divides the elite to the loser." Neji said. "This is the reality that can't change. Forfeit now."

Hinata stared at her cousin before she weakly tried to stand up, making Neji narrowed his eyes. "I...don't go back...on my word." She stood up and turned to face Nejo, a smile present on her face. "That is...my nindo way."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at hearing what she said. "Hinata…" A small smile appears on his face. He watched as Hinata looked up at him and his smile widened as he nodded at her.

_"You got this."_ He mouthed to her. Hinata smiles softly from that as she nods back at him before facing her cousin.

"You know…" Naruto said, getting everyone's attention. "I always knew Hinata was incredible...but I wasn't expecting this."

"She's quite similar to you…" Lee smiles, pointing his thumb over at Naruto.

"She has been watching you." Sakura added, which made Naruto rub his head sheepishly.

"What can I say? It's always nice to have a fan." He chuckled which made Knuckles shake his head while Amy stared at Naruto with a half-lidded annoyed expression.

Blaze sighed and shook her head at her dense best friend. It was true. When they were young, she always saw this girl hiding behind buildings and poles whenever Naruto was by himself or she was with him. She smiled in amusement as she remembered whenever she saw her, she would quickly hide from her view.

"Come." Neji told her.

Hinata tried to move but suddenly coughed out blood, which alarmed the others.

"Oh no!" Amy cries out. "What happened?"

"Neji's attack has completely shut down her chakra flow." Kakashi answered. "She can no longer do her Gentle Fist. This match is over."

"No. It's not over." Naruto spoke in his serious voice. "It's not over until one of them _stays_ down! Keep going Hinata! Show everyone here your resolve!"

"Yeah! You got this Hinata!" Tails cheered.

_"Naruto…"_ Hinata smirks in determination as her eyes hardened which Neji noticed. She charges at Neji and began to attack him all the while thinking about Naruto, from when she met him a long time ago as children. _"Whenever I look at you...I feel courage."_

She remembered all the times when Naruto failed he would always get back up and try again, no matter how difficult it was.

_"I feel like I'm trying my best…"_ Hinata dodged a strike from Neji. _"Even I can do it. That I'm worth something. That's how I began to feel."_ She gasped when Neji struck her in the stomach before hitting her up the chin. She stumbles back and coughed but she didn't fall back.

"Hinata…" Kurenai said worriedly.

Her student used to always be a quitter, but then she tries to change herself. The red eyed beauty knew better than anyone the tough training she put herself through. She'd often fail on missions because Hinata was weak when it mattered most and she quickly lost her confidence.

But today...Hinata was different.

_"This is the first time...I've ever seen her with such eyes."_ Kurenai said.

Hinata was in a lot of pain right now. Her chakra has stopped flowing when Neji struck her and she couldn't use her Gentle Fist now because of it. She knows that she reached her limit but she didn't care.

She ignored all of it...because she kept thinking about Naruto. The one from the past to the current Naruto. She always watched him from afar, watching him grow more and more each day as he kept reaching for his dream.

When she saw his battle with Nazo, she realized that he too had changed not just physically but mentally as well. It's like there are times where he acts silly and times when he knows playtime is over. He has definitely grown a lot stronger than he was before at the Academy.

So if he can change like that...then why not her?

_"Naruto…"_ Hinata said to herself as she charged at Neji. _"I've always watched you. Now you're watching me…"_ She stops in shock as Neji struck her in the chest. She painfully coughed out blood and fell face first on the arena floor while Neji remained where he was.

"You don't understand anything." Neji told his younger cousin. "From the very beginning of this match, your attacks have done nothing…"

Kurenai looks down at her student, a proud look on her face. "_Hinata...even though you lost...you truly have changed."_

"A deciding blow to the heart…" Guy said solemnly. "I feel bad for her but she won't be getting back up."

"How cruel." Amy whispered as she turns away from such a horrible scene. She couldn't think that someone of the same family would do something so terrifying to their own kin.

"Hinata..." Tails said sadly.

Knuckles clenched his fists tightly. "Damn that bastard!"

Blaze glares at Neji in anger at what he had done. Struck her in the heart? Was he truly trying to kill his own cousin, a clan heiress, because of some stupid grudge over something the main house has done? To her, it was utterly foolish and childish!

"Continuing on is impossible…" Hayate said. "So the winner…"

"Don't stop the match!" Naruto called out.

"What are you saying you-!?" Sakura was about to tell him off before Naruto covered her mouth with his hand.

"Look!" Naruto told her as everyone turned to Hinata and their eyes widened in disbelief and shock, including Neji, who had a surprised look on his face.

Hinata weakly tried to get back up. Slowly but surely, she got back on her feet. Neji just stared at her in confusion.

"Why do you stand? If you keep going you'll die." The older Hyuga told her.

Hinata took deep breaths, a smile present on her face. He was watching her. Naruto, the person whom she admires the most, is finally watching her. She looks up at Neji and smiles weakly. Her eyes glanced upwards and she saw Naruto smiling happily at her. Her eyes went back to Neji and saw his Byakugan is activated.

"It's not over." Hinata said weakly.

"Acting tough is useless." Neji said. "You can barely stand. Ever since your birth, the responsibility of the Hyuga Main House has been forced upon you. You have always hated yourself for your own weakness...but people cannot change. That is destiny. There is no need for you to suffer. Let it go."

Naruto, Knuckles and Blaze's eyes narrowed at Neji from what he said. Destiny? It's _destiny_ that people can't change? What kinda BS was this guy on?

"That's not true…brother." Hinata said. "Because I can see it...it's not me at all...the one who's lost and suffering from the destiny of the Main and Branch House...is you."

Neji's eyes narrowed in anger from what she said. He then charged at Hinata with the intent of finishing her off once and for all, ignoring what the proctor was telling him. Before he could even touch her, he was stopped by Guy, Hayate, Kakashi and Kurenai.

"Neji, give it a rest." Guy ordered his genin sternly. "You promised me that you wouldn't let this family business go over your head."

"Tsk!" Neji grit his teeth in annoyance. "Why did you even bother to interfere? More special treatment for the Main House."

Hinata's eyes went wide as she felt her heart pulsed. She was about to fall to her knees but felt a soft breeze appear and found her head leaning on a shoulder with arms wrapped around her. She looked up and saw she was leaning on Naruto, who was looking at her worriedly.

"Naru-" Hinata suddenly coughed out blood, landing some on Naruto's clothes, which he didn't care for.

"Hinata!" Kurenai cried out just as Naruto softly lay her down. She quickly ran to her just as Sakura, Lee, Blaze and Tails jumped down and ran over to them.

"Hinata! Is she okay?!" Tails asked.

"This isn't good. Look how pale she is!" Sakura said worriedly.

"Where are the medics!?" Blaze yells out in the arena.

"N...Naruto." Hinata said weakly, getting everyone's attention.

"Shh. Don't say anything." Naruto said softly, smiling at her. "You were amazing. Get some rest, kid. You earned it."

Hinata stared at Naruto's face, eyes weakly widened in surprise before she smiled back at him._ "Did I...really change...just a little bit?"_ She slowly closed her eyes.

_"Yeah…you truly did."_ Naruto nods at her. He smiles as he saw her smile weakly widen.

"Hey you there." The Ultimate Ninja lost his smile and looked over his shoulder at Neji, a blank look in his eyes. "There are two things I would like to tell you. You're a shinobi, cut out that pathetic cheering of others. And...it's exactly what Nazo said. A loser is a loser, that will never change."

Naruto, along with Lee, glares at Neji for what he said. He stood up and fully turned to him. "Wanna test that little theory of yours?"

"Heh…" Neji smirked.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and did a spin charge. Sakura knew what he was going to do and tried to stop him. But it was too late as Naruto charged at Neji, only to skid to a halt as Lee appeared and blocked him from going any further, much to everyone's surprise.

"Why are you stopping-!?"

"Naruto, I get where you're coming from, believe me." Lee told him, his hair shadowing his eyes. "But the fighting should occur in the matches."

"..." Naruto stared at Lee with eyes full of surprise.

"Whether a loser can defeat a genius through the power of hard work." Lee stated. "That's something to look forward to in the main event." He looks up and stares at Neji. "Though his opponent might be me."

"..." Neji stares back at Lee.

"But even if it's you Naruto, there will be no hard feelings." Lee finished, looking back at Naruto, who was glaring at Neji.

The Ultimate Ninja's face turned comical for a moment as he looks between them before he sighed and smirks a little. "Alright. Fine. You win." He turns away, not paying attention to the fact that Lee and Guy gave each other a thumbs up.

"GAAAH!" Hinata coughed out blood again, getting everyone's attention.

"Hold on!" Knuckles jumped down the platform and ran to them. He kneels down in front of Hinata and holds his hands out. A green glow erupted from his hands and shrouded Hinata in a green energy field.

Everyone stared in amazement at the technique and they could hear sparkling noises coming from the energy field as the gold rings entered her being. Knuckles turn to everyone, ignoring their surprised expressions. "I healed what I could but she needs to go to the hospital now!"

Kurenai stared at the redhead before she nodded her head in gratitude. She turns to the arrived Medical Team. "What are you waiting for!? You heard what he said! Hurry!"

"R-Right!" The Medical Team quickly placed Hinata on the stretcher as they carried her away with Kurenai following after them.

Naruto watched on as she saw her peaceful expression on her face. He thought back on the fight that just happened. How hard she fought to prove to her cousin that she did change, how she continued to get back up and fight the good fight, made him proud of her and found respect for her.

He looked down at the blood that Hinata coughed out and the blood on his shirt. He wiped the blood off his shirt and reached down and used his fingers to pick up the rest of it. He turned to Neji and held his fist out towards him, the blood dripping down his fingers, which immediately caught everyone's attention.

"Neji Hyuga. You're on my list." Naruto spoke, his voice and expression matching the seriousness that he's known to have. "You better watch out. I'm coming at ya, full speed."

"...Bah." Neji said as he turned to walk away.

_"Naruto…"_ Blaze, Tails, Amy, Sakura and Lee thought as they stared at him.

Naruto walks towards Knuckles, who stood up and stared at him. He smiled at him and held his fist out towards him, his eyes showing new respect. "You did good...Rad Red."

Knuckles stared at the fist before he closed his eyes and smirks. "Thanks...Yellow Streak." He bumps fists with Naruto as the two chuckled a bit.

Everyone smiled at the interaction between them. Soon they all walked back to the stands. Meanwhile, Storm and her team were impressed with the fight the two Hyuga Clan members showed.

"I gotta admit. I wasn't expecting a fight between two members of the same clan." One of her teammates commented.

"Not only that but from what we just heard that was the supposed clan heiress." The other said.

"Hmph. Some heiress she was. She was supposed to represent her house yet she lost to someone from the branch house?" Storm asked with narrowed eyes. "What a disgrace. If anything…" Her eyes moved towards Neji. "Neji has what it takes to be a clan heir." Her eyes then moved towards Naruto, watching as the Sand's puppet user walked towards him and two of his friends and started a conversation with them. "That is...if he can win against _him_."

"Now it's time to begin the next match." Hayate called out, getting everyone's attention. They looked up at the monitor and saw who was next to fight.

**Rock Lee**

**VS.**

**Gaara** **of the Desert**

"YES! It is now my turn!" Lee cheered as he happily jumped off the platform, doing a flip.

"..." Gaara appeared on the floor in a swirl of sand.

"If you're ready…" Hayate started as he stared at both fighters. "You may begin."

Lee immediately took a stance while the cork on Gaara's gourd popped open, which released a bunch of sand and formed a circle around him. The action took Lee and everyone else, except for the Sand Ninja.

"Eh?" Tails asked, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. "Dudes, did you see that?"

"Yeah. That was sand." Naruto replied, eyes wide in surprise. "So that's what was in that gourd."

"...I don't like this." Knuckles said, narrowing his eyes at Gaara and crossing his arms. "Something about that guy feels...weird."

Naruto and Tails stared at Knuckles for a brief moment before they looked back at the match, both of them agreeing with what he said about Gaara feeling weird.

Rock Lee charged at Gaara, landing a few hits but were blocked by the sand. He took out a kunai when he saw the sand trying to attack him, so he dodged and slashed at him before jumping away. He charged at Gaara once again, this time trying to attack him with a barrage of kicks which were blocked as well.

"How is Gaara doing all that?" Blaze asked in complete confusion. "Just look at him, he's not moving a single muscle."

"I don't know." Amy said, shaking a bit as she eyed Gaara with fear in her eyes. She flinched when she saw hit the wall. "But that guy, his eyes...they scare me. It's almost like...he's not human. To be honest, I'm worried about Rock Lee."

The sand moved towards Lee who jumped out of the way in time and launched several shurikens at Gaara which were immediately struck blocked by the sand. Just as he landed, he jumps again to avoid a tsunami of sand that appeared behind him. He landed on the stone fingers and stared hard at Gaara while he did the same thing.

"Damn! That Gaara guy is tough." Naruto said. "What's up with that sand of his protecting him? It's almost like it's alive."

"That's because it is." Kankuro replied, earning Naruto and his two friends attention. "Gaara isn't controlling the sand. It protects him of its own accord. And because of that...no one hasn't been able to touch Gaara."

"A sand that protects someone?!" Tails asked, his eyes turned into stars. "Oh man! That's so cool!"

"Hope that Lee guy has a plan." Knuckles said, hearing the older guy that looks like Lee says something about taking off his weights. "Because if not, he's going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Yes sir! I shall take them off!" Lee exclaimed, holding two weights in his hands before he released them.

Everyone watched as the weights fell to the ground. The moment they landed, the entire arena shook as two large clouds of dirt appeared from where the weights landed. Everyone, not counting Gaara were incredibly shocked or surprised by how heavy those weights were.

"KYA!?" Amy and Sakura screamed in comical shock.

"What in the world!?" Storm asked in shock, staring at Lee in disbelief. How the hell could anyone wear those kinds of weights!?

"My god!" Blaze exclaimed, jumping like a frightened cat as cat ears and a tail comically came out.

_"Guy, you are too much."_ Kakashi thought with a deadpan expression.

"WHOA!" Tails floated in the air, screaming in comical shock before he fell back down, landing on his butt. "Ow!"

"HOLY CRAP!" Naruto yells in comical surprise. "How much are those weights!?"

Knuckles whistled in awe, staring at Lee with respect. "This guy was wearing that kind of weight the whole time? Me and him have _got_ to fight."

Lee then vanished much to everyone's surprise, especially Naruto and Gaara. He then reappeared behind Gaara and attacked him harder and faster which made the sand harder to block.

"Oh snap! He's moving as fast as you Naruto!" Tails said in excitement.

Naruto looked impressed by that as he smirks. "Oh? Sounds to me like I got a new competition in speed bud."

They continued to watch the match as Lee kept attacking Gaara in a burst of speed. In fact, thanks to Naruto's heightened senses, he can follow every movement Lee is making as he attacks Gaara.

Yet despite all that, Gaara was still getting back up and he looked like he was enjoying this match. Wanting to end this fight, Lee then did something that shocked everyone, he opened up five of the Eight Gates, increasing his power and speed further judging by his pupils disappearing and his skin turning red.

_"I've got a bad feeling about this…"_ Naruto said to himself, gripping the railing as he continued to watch the match, ignoring everything around him.

Lee sent a barrage of attacks at Gaara while airborne as he kept getting hit all over his body. He sent one last attack that sent Gaara crashing down to the arena floor, causing a massive crater to be formed. When Lee landed, tired and exhausted, and after seeing the cracks all over Gaara's face and body, everyone thought Lee had won the match.

That is until Gaara went in for the attack. Lee tried desperately to get away from the sand, but it managed to grab his arm and leg. With a sickening crunch that made most in the arena to flinch or cover their ears to block out Lee's screams of pain.

"LEE!" Naruto called out as he and Knuckles were about to jump down and interfere with the match.

The match was already interrupted by Might Guy entering the arena and blowing the sand away, preventing it from doing anymore damage to Lee. Gaara had asked why he protected him only to get an answer that drove more confusion from him. So he decided to up and leave the arena. But much to everyone's amazement, Lee suddenly stood up and took a weak fighting stance.

Naruto instantly appeared and stood in front of Lee. "Hey! Dude! It's okay! You don't have to fight...any…" His words died in his throat as he stared at Lee's eyes before he looked down and bit his lower lip.

"What's wrong?" Guy asked, wondering why Naruto went silent. He shook his head and moved out of the way, allowing the Jonin to see his student before his eyes widened. His eyes started to water. "Oh Lee...what have I done?"

While Guy was busy hugging Lee and crying just as the paramedics showed up, Naruto clenched his fists tightly, ignoring everything that was happening. He couldn't believe it. Lee had that guy! He had him! He had the speed, the power boost and the advantage. He's given in everything he had in order to win at the cost of his stamina in order to win, so how could he lose?

He heard the paramedics talking to Guy about Lee's condition and it shocked him to hear that because of Gaara's sand crushing the bones in his left arm and leg, his career as a shinobi was over. Even Knuckles, much to his anger and disappointment, tried to heal him but could only heal what could little injuries he had.

As much as Naruto wanted to deny it, to tell the doctors they were wrong, he knew they were right. And it made him angry that there was nothing he could do to help Lee.

Hearing footsteps walking past him and sensing the familiar cold atmosphere, Naruto glanced to the side and glared at Gaara, who glanced back at him with an emotionless glare. He instantly reappeared next to his siblings though Naruto's eyes never left his form.

_"Gaara of the Desert…"_

Feeling a hand on his head made Naruto turn to see it was Kakashi. "Come on, the final match is about to start."

Naruto nodded and silently went to the stands with the others. He took a sneak peak at Gaara out of the corner of his eyes. _"What the hell are you?"_

After the drama was over and done, it was time for the last match which was Choji against Dosu. Well, if you could actually call it a match since it only lasted for about a minute or two which caused various amounts of comical reactions from the Leaf Genin while the others were indifference.

"Um, what just happened?" Amy asked, blinking in confusion.

A sheepish Naruto laughed a little bit. "That's Choji for ya. Call him fat or take the last bite of his favorite snack and he will snap on you like an angry bull."

"He's right." Tails said, sitting on the railing. "I mean, this isn't the first time Dosu and Choji fought each other."

"They fought before?" Knuckles asked curiously.

"Yeah, it was a couple of days ago when we were in the Forest of Death." Sakura replied, unknowingly creeping Amy while Knuckles looked bewildered.

Blaze shook her head and crossed her arms, staring at the downed Akimichi heir as the medics took him away. She glanced at Kakashi. "It seems pretty childish to be worked up over someone calling him fat, don't you think?"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? Some Akimichi men are quite sensitive about their weight."

_"I bet they are."_ Blaze, Amy and Sakura thought with deadpan looks on their faces. After all, women everywhere concern themselves with their weight everyday.

"With that match concluded, the third exam preliminaries are officially over." Hayate said. "All winners gather to the arena."

Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, Kankuro, Temari, Gaara, Dosu and Storm gathered to the arena floor, standing in front Anko, Hayate and Ibiki. Behind them stood Hiruzen.

"We commend all those who advances towards the finals of the third level of the Chunin Exam." Hayate said. "Well there's one person missing but still congratulations."

Hiruzen coughed to get the attention. "In the final rounds, each of you will put your battle skills on display. You'll demonstrate the power and control that you've received in your respective discipline. Accordingly the final battles will commence in one month."

"We have to wait a month for the finals?" Naruto asked. "Why?"

"This is to provide a suitable period of preparation." Hiruzen answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Shikamaru asked.

"Simply this; in addition to announcing the conclusion of the preliminary matches to each country's leaders, we must also have some time to prepare and distribute summons for the final selection." Hiruzen closed his eyes and smirked. "Not to mention you examinees are going to need time to prepare for something this important."

"Oh! I get it now." Naruto said, smirking slightly as he caught everyone's attention. "While you guys are busy taking care of the important stuff, we get to take this month long break in order to train ourselves. Makes sense when you think about it."

"What exactly does that mean?" Kankuro asked.

"When we fought in the preliminaries, we were basically fighting unknown shinobi." Conquering Storm answered, bringing attention to herself. "During that time, we had no idea what our opponent's skills and abilities were. But now that everyone knows each other's techniques, we're taking this month break in order to hone our own skills against the opponent we're facing during the finals. Am I correct Lord Third?"

"Yes. That is absolutely correct." Hiruzen said.

Naruto turned his head to stare at Gaara, Neji and Storm, who noticed his gaze as she glanced back at him. She sent him a challenging smirk before closing her eyes and ignored his presence. He looked at the floor as he thought about Sasuke and Nazo.

He clenched his fists just from thinking about him and the demonic power that he infected him with. Oh yeah, he's definitely going to get some serious training done if he's going to win this competition. Especially learning how to control this dark power.

Meanwhile up in the stands, Blaze, Tails, Knuckles Amy and Sakura were watching everything unfold.

"Oh man! It looks like next month is going to be crazy!" Tails said, kicking his legs excitedly.

"And from what gramps said down there, a lot of important leaders will be watching everything happen." Knuckles added in, leaning on the wall. "To be honest, I want to check that out."

"Hm." Sakura nods, her eyes focused on Naruto's determined expression as he looked at his hands. "I can't help but worry about Naruto. I mean I'm happy that he's advanced but…" Her eyes moved towards Gaara. "What if he ends up fighting Gaara and ends up like Lee?"

"No way!" Amy shook her head, looking at Sakura with a happy smirk. "Naruto would never lose to a guy like that. No matter how tough someone else is, he'll always find a way to beat them, just like how he did with Nazo and Dr. Nega. He IS Naruto after all."

Everyone smiled at that as they nodded their heads.

"Of course he is." Blaze smiled staring at Naruto as he and the other examinees were given pieces of paper. "That fool never knows when to call it quits."

"Alright from left to right, start to call out your numbers." Ibiki instructed them.

"I've got 8."

"Number 1 here."

"I have 7."

"5."

"3."

"9."

"2."

"6."

"10."

"And that means Sasuke will be number 4." Hiruzen stated. "Excellent. Now I will tell you how the selection tournament works. Ibiki you may reveal which ninja has been paired up."

Ibiki nodded and showed everyone what was written on the board; (1) Naruto vs. (2) Neji, (3) Gaara vs. (4) Sasuke, (5) Kankuro vs. (6) Shino, (7) Storm vs. (8) Dosu, (9) Temari vs. (10) Shikamaru

The assembled genin looked at the board each with their own thoughts on the opponents they were facing. Naruto grins at seeing that he was the first to fight and that he was going to face Neji. Lady luck is on his side today ladies and gentlemen! Not only that but Sasuke and Gaara will be fighting in the next round.

Even though he wanted to take down Gaara after what he did to Lee, he still wanted to get the chance to fight his longtime rival. He hoped that Sasuke would win against him, but then again because of that weird tattoo on his neck he never got the chance to see Gaara in action so he doesn't know what he's up against.

He glanced up at the bystanders and noted that Kakashi wasn't there, which meant he was checking up on Sasuke. He nodded in acceptance, knowing that he'll tell Sasuke what was going on and when he does, he'll be out training.

"Now that you know who you will be up against, take this month break to hone and master your individual skills against your opponents. That is all." Hiruzen said.

After that the examinees went with their teams, each of them getting ready for finals.

* * *

_Later that day_

"Aw~! Ichiraku! It's been so long since I've had a taste of your delicious ramen!" Naruto said happily, drooling slightly.

Naruto and his group of friends which consists of Blaze, Tails, Amy and Knuckles were at Naruto's favorite ramen restaurant. Sakura went home, saying that she was going to take a shower and nap.

"I really don't understand what's so special about this place." Knuckles said, tapping his finger on the table.

"Poor simple Knucklehead, haven't gotten the time to try out the best, I repeat the BEST ramen in the world." Naruto said, wagging his finger, making Knuckles glare at him in annoyance.

"Is the ramen here really that good?" Amy asked curiously.

"Of course! I've never had ramen as good as this!" Tails said happily. He's currently in his human form, only he wore a hat to cover his ears. Amazing, he joined his twin tails together to form a single tail and used wrapped it around his waist, making it look like a fashionable belt.

"It's been so long since I've been here." Blaze mused as she looked around the small restaurant with a small smile on her face. "This place hasn't changed a bit."

Hearing laughter coming from the kitchen made everyone look to see the owner, Teuchi, walking out with two bowls of ramen in his hands as he handed one to Naruto and the other Blaze.

"That's right! And hopefully it's going to stay that way for several more years!" Teuchi said as his daughter came out holding a plate of three bowls and handed them to the others.

"Thank you for the food!" Naruto and Tails said happily as they dug in.

Amy giggled at them as she raised the noodles to her mouth, blowing on it for a couple of seconds before eating it. Her eyes widened in delight at the amazing taste that touched her tongue. "It's good!" She continued to eat at a pace that was closer to Naruto's.

Blaze stared at them with a deadpan expression at how they were eating. She sighed and shook her head. "Oh brother." She followed their example, with noble grace befitting her statues as princess and slurped in the noodle.

Her eyes widened as a minor blush spread across her cheeks. Oh my! She's completely forgotten how amazingly good Mr. Teuchi's ramen was. This gentleman's cooking shows how much love and care he always put in the taste of his food. While true the chefs at her castle would always cook for her, but the ramen they made wasn't as special as Mr. Teuchi. He is certainly quite skilled in the culinary arts.

Knuckles glanced around, seeing everyone was happily enjoying their food. He looked down at his bowl before shrugging his shoulders and taking a slurp. His eyes widened comically for a second as he immediately dug in. "Whoa! What am I eating!? This is amazing!"

After a couple of minutes, everyone was finished with their bowls as they sighed in content and bliss

"Thanks for the ramen you two." Naruto said as he reached in his pocket to take out his money, only for Teuchi to raise his hand.

"No pay! This is on the house!" The owner said happily as he picked up the bowls and stacked them. "Not only did you make it to the finals but you also finally found your little childhood sweetheart and brought some new guests in!"

What he said caused several things to happen; Naruto did a large comical spit take, and coughed uncontrollably, Blaze blushed slightly, Knuckles and Tails were laughing and giggling, and Amy looked wide eyed as she snapped both chopsticks in her hand.

"She's not my sweetheart!" Naruto exclaimed while blushing. "She's just a friend! Just. A. Friend!"

"Oh?" Ayame asked, raising a brow as teasing smirk appeared on her face. "I remember a certain little boy who said that he won't stop until he finds his _precious_ Blaze."

"I NEVER SAID THAT!' Naruto yelled blushed up a storm while Blaze's blush increased further. It drove Tails and Knuckles on the ground laughing so hard they were holding their sides.

A pink aura erupted from Amy as she let out a growl, turning to face Naruto as her pupils shrank in anger, making him shake in fear. He leaned towards Ayame's ear, a frantic pleading expression on his face.

"Ayame, can you _please_ be quiet before Amy does something crazy to me!"

Ayame giggled slightly before pulled away. "Okay, okay. I won't tease you anymore."

Naruto glanced at Amy and saw she was still staring at him in anger making him sweat nervously before he stood up. "Hey! Now that we've had our fill why don't I give you guys a grand tour? Okay? Okay, let's go!" He tried to laugh in excitement but it was more nervous.

So for the next hour, Naruto and Tails had given their friends a grand tour of the Leaf Village, showing them various places like the BBQ restaurant Choji and his team always hung around, and the flower shop that Ino and her family owns.

Knuckles being curious wanted to enter to see what kind of flowers they sell so he did. When he entered he saw Ino talking to her parents about the exam and when they saw him, Ino blushed up like a storm and stuttered uncontrollably. She looked down and saw how daughter she was, so she ran up stairs to her room to get into a shower, leaving behind a confused Knuckles and her sheepish looking parents, with Naruto and the others peeking in to see what was going on.

After that little episode, Naruto, in his own simple unique way of course, explained the history of the Leaf Village from its founding to today. He showed them the Hokage Monument which had the faces of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Hokage.

Looking at the Fourth Hokage's face caused Amy and Knuckles to look between it and Naruto's, noting the resemblance between the two. Judging how Naruto proudly looked up at the Fourth Hokage's face and how Blaze and Tails held their fingers to lips when they saw their expressions, they put the pieces together and didn't comment on it as they continued.

They went to the Academy, Hokage Manor, and the various training grounds that were open. They were now heading towards the hot springs area.

"So Naruto." Blaze spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "What exactly is your plan for the finals this month?"

"What do you mean? I'm gonna train like crazy of course!" Naruto grins in confidence.

"I know you're gonna 'train like crazy'." Blaze said rolling her eyes in exasperation. "And that's not a plan."

"Yeah." Knuckles said, stuffing his hands in his pocket. "Your opponent in the first match is that Neji Hyuga guy."

Tails nodded in agreement. "He paid very close attention to your fight against Nazo, so he knows what he's up against and will find a way to counter your speed."

"Then I'll just have to find a way to counter him back." Naruto said, placing his hands behind his head, frowning. "I'll be honest guys, when we met that creep Orochimaru I think the bastard did something to me."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked curiously.

"I mean when me and Nazo fought each other, I tried to get a good amount of access to my chakra but I couldn't." Naruto answered, getting everyone's attention. "It's like whatever Orochimaru did to me disrupted my chakra, making it difficult for me to use it."

"Did you tell this to Kakashi?" Blaze asked, eyes narrowing at this mysterious Orochimaru character.

Naruto shrugged in response. "I was going too but I don't think Kakashi himself knows what this thing is. Besides, knowing him he's gonna train Sasuke on how to beat Gaara since they both have the sharingan."

"What about Lord Third?" Tails asked with Naruto shaking his head.

"The old man is too busy with the exams, and I don't want to put more stress on him. He's already worried about me enough with this Dark Gaia thing's power flowing through me."

"And...what about Dark Gaia's power?" Amy asked, making Naruto frown in thought. "Did you figure out a way to control it?"

"That's a different story." The ultimate ninja admitted. "I mean come on. Nobody, not even the old man himself, heard of this thing until today."

Blaze nodded in agreement. "The only one who does is Nazo. He gave you this power so he must know a way to get rid of it. So until then you're stuck with it."

"Right." Naruto said. "If I need to learn how to control this power I need to either A): Find someone else who knows more about this thing or B): Learn it myself."

"Let me guess, you're gonna pick option B." Knuckles stated.

"Like I got a choice in the matter." Naruto said, scratching his head in annoyance. "Damn. This whole mess is starting to turn into a drag."

"Hey, you sound like Shikamaru just now." Tails giggled making everyone else laugh as well.

"I think he's starting to rub off on me." Naruto chuckled.

"AIIIIIIIII~!"

**BOOM!**

"Huh?" Everyone looked ahead at the cloud of dust. Once it settled, they saw a man lying on the ground unconscious. He wore the usual shinobi outfit without the flak jacket and wore a bandana with the forehead protector on it. He also wore black sunglasses.

"Look at that, it's the closet pervert." Naruto said, a comical blank look sent towards the man.

"Closet pervert?!" Amy cried out, hiding behind her Destined Hero as she and Blaze glared at the man.

"He definitely looks like one." Knuckles said with a half lidded expression.

"Yup. This guy is Ebisu. Met him when the old man's grandson came rushing in like a dork. Wonder what's he been up to throughout this story." Naruto mused to himself.

"What do you think happened to him?" Tails asked, poking at the unconscious man with a stick.

He received no answers.

"Guys?"

Tails turned back to his friends, seeing them staring up ahead with widened eyes full of comical disbelief and wonder. Curious, he turned to the bridge they were about to cross until he gave a startled yelp.

Standing on a bridge was a big orange frog with blue markings. Not only that there was also a man sitting on top of the frog. A man whom Blaze was **very** familiar with by the way her eyes were narrowed in complete anger and disgust.

Even though the man was sitting on his frog, they could easily tell that he was tall and well-built. He has waist-length, spiky white hair that is tied back into a ponytail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes which extended further down his face to they were at the bottom.

His attire consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armour that is visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. He often carried a large scroll on his back, and had a tattoo on his left palm, and he wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil".

"What's wrong with you?" The man said, obviously talking to Ebisu as he glared at him in annoyance. "Keep it down. Are you trying to get us busted you idiot?" He then turned his attention to the group in front of him, all of them staring at him with widened eyes while only one of them was glaring at him.

Thankfully Naruto summed it up for everyone.

"Dude...what the actual fuck?"

* * *

**Ending 2: Harmonia [English Version]**

**Hey, can you hear me?**

A drawing of Tails, in his fox form, is seen with his back turned to the audience. He turns back and smiles happily at the viewers.

**The sky is limitless and blue  
The sea is endlessly large  
To you, please remain smiling or else I'll cry**

Tails is flying in the Tornado. He waves to a bunch of birds as they waved back. He flew down just above the sea as the dolphins jumped out. Everything vanished and Tails is by himself.

Naruto, Knuckles, Amy, Sasuke and Sakura appeared for a moment before they vanished, making Tails cry out before he sneezed and he transformed into his human form.

**You don't have to look around now, because everyone are in these hands**

Pictures start to rain down and Tails watches each one that passes. All the pictures had everyone on them: Rock Lee, Iruka, Hinata, Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai, Shikamaru, Naruto, Amy, Knuckles, Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi.

**Wanting to cry, wanting to run  
If you forget happiness then sing  
Light was born and dark was born, the two is together  
Feeling harmonia, telepathy**

Tails, still in his human form, is walking around the woods, looking for everyone as the sun shines on him. A bunch of animals soon followed him and he began to happily lead them as though they were a marching band.

One by one the animals began to leave Tails by himself. He looked in front of him and saw Naruto's back towards him.

A big smile appeared on his face as he ran to his best friend and jumped on his back, causing him to turn around in surprise before a smile appeared on his face. He turns around facing the viewers and looks at them.

**Hey, can you hear me?**

Naruto and Tails then gave the viewers two thumbs up.


End file.
